Quality of vacuum packaged beef as affected by aqueous ozone and sodium citrate treatment

Abstract

This study was targeted to investigate the effect of the combination of aqueous ozone (AO) and sodium citrate (SC) pretreatment on quality of vacuum packaged beef stored at chilling temperature. The steers were randomly divided into five treatment groups, containing the group C (steers without any treatment), DW (steers pretreated with distilled water), AO, SC and AO+SC. During processing, the parameters included total Viable Count (TVC), total Volatile Basic Nitrogen (TVB-N), pH, meat color, metmyoglobin (Met-Mb), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBArs), Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF), and purge loss were measured and compared. Firstly, the TVC in beef steaks of group AO+SC was significantly lower than group AO and SC during the whole storage (P < .05). In addition, the TVB-N values in AO+ SC group were significantly decreased than AO group at the end of storage time. Furthermore, compared with the group only treated by AO, the group AO+SC displayed higher L* (lightness) value, lower a* (redness) value and lower Met-Mb. The values of WBSF and purge loss of group AO+SC was lower than group AO, as well as TBArs. The treatment methods and storage time had significant interactive effects on TVC, TVB-N, pH, L*, Met-Mb, and TBArs (P < .05). The combination treatment of AO and SC showed better effect on inhibiting the microbial growth and decreased the deteriorated effect of AO on beef quality including TBArs, WBSF, and purge loss.

Applications of water activated by ozone, electrolysis, or gas plasma for microbial decontamination of raw and processed meat

“…TVCThe combined treatment showed better inhibiting the TVC, decreased TVBN, and decreased the deteriorated effect than the individual treatmentsZhang et al (2020) Beef 12 ppm at 4.6-5.68• C for 90 s of spray every 30 min for 12 h E. coli O157:H7 and aerobic bacteria 1.46 and 0.99 logs reduction, respectively. <90% inactivation of E. coli Kalchayanand et al (2019) Beef (raw) 0.5 ppm for 15, 30, and 45 min at 5, 15, and 20 • C Aeromonas hydrophilia, Listeria monocytogene and Yersinia enterocolitica Rinsing for 45 min achieved 3 log 10 CFU/mL −1 reductions.…”

“…Ozonated water treatments can be combined with other cleanlabel ingredients such as lactic acid (Megahed et al, 2020) and sodium citrate (Zhang et al, 2020). Megahed et al (2020) investigated the microbial killing capacity of ozonated water and ozone-lactic acid blend on Salmonella-contaminated chicken drumsticks using a multi-sequential application.…”

“…Food safety and demand for cleaner labels continue to be an ongoing concern with consumers. Raw and minimally processed meat contains common foodborne pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes (Zhang et al, 2020), Salmonella Enteritidis (Garrido-Maestu et al, 2019), Escherichia coli O157: H7 (de Assis et al, 2021), Campylobacter (Thomas et al, 2020) and Staphylococcus aureus (Ribeiro et al, 2018), which contributes to foodborne illnesses. The risk of microbial spoilage in raw, minimally processed, and readyto-eat meat products is associated with temperature variations and extended distances of distribution.…”

Aqueous ozone: Chemistry, physiochemical properties, microbial inactivation, factors influencing antimicrobial effectiveness, and application in food

“…In a study by Zhang et al. (2020), the impact of AO combined with sodium citrate (SC) was investigated as a pretreatment on the quality of vacuum‐packaged beef stored at chilling temperature. During the storage period of the beef, the action of microorganisms led to the decomposition and subsequent release of alkali, resulting in a pH spike.…”

“…The detrimental effect further results in the destructive oxidation of membranebound respiratory lipids and enzymes involved in the maintenace of cellular electrical charge and attack on numerous cellular constituents including enzymes and nucleic acis in cytoplasm, proteins, and peptidoglycans in spore coats and virus capsids, and unsaturated lipids in cell membranes (Botta et al, 2018). AO effectively F I G U R E 2 Mechanism of microbial inactivation by aqueous ozone inhibits several microorganisms by causing membrane leakage, enzymatic inactivation, gene inhibition, gDNA degradation, and total RNA genetic material destruction, eventually leading to cell death (Zhang et al, 2020). Additionally, for bacterial cells, the major target is the cell wall because of which leakage of intracellular content takes place post treatment.…”