Shelf life estimation of refrigerated vacuum packed beef accounting for uncertainty

Magdevis Y Rodriguez-Caturla; Alberto Garre; Carmen Josefina Contreras Castillo; Marcel H Zwietering; Heidy M W den Besten; Anderson S SantˈAna

doi:10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2023.110345

Shelf life estimation of refrigerated vacuum packed beef accounting for uncertainty

Int J Food Microbiol. 2023 Nov 16:405:110345. doi: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2023.110345. Epub 2023 Aug 2.

Authors

Magdevis Y Rodriguez-Caturla¹, Alberto Garre², Carmen Josefina Contreras Castillo³, Marcel H Zwietering², Heidy M W den Besten², Anderson S SantˈAna⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Faculty of Food Engineering, University of Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
² Food Microbiology, Wageningen University, PO Box 17, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands.
³ Department of Agroindustry, Food and Nutrition, Luis Queiroz College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba Campus, SP, Brazil.
⁴ Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Faculty of Food Engineering, University of Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: and@unicamp.br.

PMID: 37549599
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2023.110345

Abstract

This study estimates the shelf life of vacuum packed beef meat (three muscles: striploin (longissimus thoracis et lumborum, LTL), tenderloin (psoas major, PM) and outside chuck (trapezius thoracis, TT)) at refrigeration temperatures (0 °C-10 °C) based on modelling the growth of two relevant groups of spoilage microorganisms: lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and Enterobacteriaceae. The growth models were developed combining a two-step and a one-step approach. The primary modelling was used to identify the parameters affecting the growth kinetics, guiding the definition of secondary growth models. For LAB, the secondary model included the effect of temperature and initial pH on the specific growth rate. On the other hand, the model for Enterobacteriaceae incorporated the effect of temperature on the specific growth rate and the lag phase; as well as the effect of the initial pH on the specific growth rate, the lag phase and the initial microbial count. We did not observe any significant effect of the type of muscle on the growth kinetics. Once the equations were defined, the models were fitted to the complete dataset using a one-step approach. Model validation was carried out by cross-validation, mitigating the impact of an arbitrary division between training and validation sets. The models were used to estimate the shelf life of the product, based on the maximum admissible microbial concentration (7 log CFU/g for LAB, 5 log CFU/g for Enterobacteriaceae). Although LAB was the dominant microbiota, in several cases, both LAB and Enterobacteriaceae reached the critical concentration practically at the same time. Furthermore, in some scenarios, the end of shelf life would be determined by Enterobacteriaceae, pointing at the potential importance of non-dominant microorganisms for product spoilage. These results can aid in the implementation of effective control measures in the meat processing industry.

Keywords: Meat quality; Predictive modelling; Quantitative microbiology; Spoilage microorganisms.

MeSH terms

Animals
Cattle
Colony Count, Microbial
Enterobacteriaceae*
Food Microbiology*
Food Packaging / methods
Food Preservation / methods
Meat / microbiology
Temperature
Uncertainty
Vacuum