Evaluation and predictive modeling of shelf life of minced beef stored in high-oxygen modified atmos.pdf

Meat Science 84 (2010) 129–136Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Meat Science journal homepage: www.elsevier .com/locate /meatsc iEvaluation and predictive modeling of shelf life of minced beef stored in high-oxygen modified atmosphere packaging at different temperatures S. Limbo a,*, L. Torri b, N. Sinelli a, L. Franzetti a, E. Casiraghi a aDISTAM, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria, 2, 20133 Milano, Italy bUniversity of Gastronomic Sciences, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele 9, 12060 Bra (CN), Italy a r t i c l e i n f oArticle history: Received 21 May 2009 Received in revised form 13 August 2009 Accepted 14 August 2009 Keywords: Freshness e-Nose Minced beef High oxygen concentrations Shelf life Time–temperature relationship0309-1740/$ - see front matter  2009 Elsevier Ltd. A doi:10.1016/j.meatsci.2009.08.035 * Corresponding author. Address: DISTAM, Univer 20133 Milano, Italy. Tel.: +39 02 fax: +39 E-mail address: sara.limbo@unimi.it (S. Limbo).a b s t r a c t The aims were: (1) to follow the freshness decay of minced beef stored in high-oxygen modified atmo- sphere packaging at different temperatures (4.3, 8.1 and 15.5 C) by applying traditional methods (micro- biological counts, color evaluation, thiobarbituric acid assay TBA, headspace gas composition) and e- nose; (2) to model the decay kinetics to obtain information about the maximum shelf life as function of storage conditions. The minced beef, packaged in modified atmosphere was supplied by a manufac- turer at the beginning of its commercial life. The study demonstrated the ability of the traditional meth- ods to describe the kinetics of freshness decay. The modeling of the experimental data and the comparison with microbiological or chemical thresholds allowed the setting, for each index, of a stability time above which the meat was no longer acceptable. The quality decay of meat was also evaluated by the headspace fingerprint of the same set of samples by means of a commercial e-nose.