Turkey meat and processed products are very popular in Portugal. However, no studies have been made to assess turkey meat quality. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the quality of turkey breast meat in a Portuguese slaughterhouse, differentiating it to obtain better industrial management, performance, and consumer contentment. Nine hundred and seventy-seven male turkeys (from 16 to 20 wk old) from different flocks (BUT 9 and BIG 6) were evaluated to assess meat quality. Turkeys were slaughtered on different days, electrically stunned (225 V/3 s), and scalded in a vertical water bath at 81 degrees C/5 min. On the slaughter line, the pH and temperature were measured on the pectoralis muscle 15 min postmortem. The carcasses were fast-cooled in a tunnel (-2 degrees C/2 m.s(-1)/90% RH) for 2 h and kept in a refrigeration chamber (0 degree C/85% RH) until deboning (approximately 24 h postmortem). Color and pH 24 h postmortem (pH(24)) were measured on the pectoralis major muscle after carcass deboning. Pectoralis major muscles were selected according to criteria used by Barbut (1996) and drip loss, cooking loss, and total pigments analysis were performed on 67 different sliced meat samples. Muscles classified by pH decline rate, called rapid glycolytic, did not present final quality characteristics that could relate them with pale, soft, and exudative- (PSE) like meat, because there was no relationship between pH 15 h postmortem and lightness (L*), drip loss, or cooking loss. The differences, founded on physicochemical characteristics within pectoralis major muscles, allowed us to establish a criteria of turkey meat quality for dark and PSE-like meat, with L* < or = 44 and pH(24) > or = 5.8 and L* > or = 50 and pH(24) < 5.8, respectively. Based on criteria, the studied population presented 8.1% of carcasses with PSE-like muscles and 12.1% with dark muscles. The association of pH(24) and L* as criteria classification can be useful to classify turkey meat quality.

No abstract

Enterococci are ubiquitous microorganisms, found as part of the normal intestinal microbiota of many animals. They can be present in food products, for example, the Portuguese dry fermented sausage chourico. Twenty enterococci were isolated from chourico in two processing units; after identification and typification by conventional-molecular methods, the isolates were screened for virulence factors and antibiotic resistance. Identification allocated all enterococci to the species Enterococcus faecalis, and PCR fingerprinting demonstrated that each isolate was specific to the processing unit and chourico from which it was recovered. Regarding the screening for virulence factors, I strain produced cytolysin and 4 were gelatinase positive, but none produced lipase. The ace gene was detected in I enterococci, ebpABC and efaA(fs). in 16 isolates each, esp in 3, fsrB in 5, gelE in 7, and cylA in I. A multiresistant phenotype was observed in 8 isolates, 6 belonging to factory A. The antibiotic resistance gene ere(B) was detected in 9 enterococci, whereas the genes tet(M), aac(6')-le-aph(2 ''), and vanA were detected in 8 isolates each. As some of the E. faecalis chourico isolates present a multiresistant profile and harbor virulence and/or resistance genes, to assess further the safety of Portuguese dry sausages, a larger number of products and processing units must by analyzed.

The selection of coagulase-negative staphylococci and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolates were based on their production of biogenic amines in order to avoid this potential hazard production in meat products. The most suitable isolates could be used as safe starter cultures in meat products industry. The staphylococci and LAB selected will achieve particular organoleptic characteristics in meat products and bioprotection from pathogens.