Shelf life of case-ready beef steaks (Semitendinosus muscle) stored in oxygen-depleted master bag system with oxygen scavengers and CO2/N2 modified atmosphere packaging

Oxygen Scavengers affect Gas Mixture and Color Stability of Master Packed Ground Beef

“…The use of oxygen scavengers, A and B effectively reduced oxygen concentration during master pack storage (p < 0.05). Similar results by Venturini et al (2006) and Limbo et al (2013) showed that oxygen scavengers rapidly reduced oxygen concentration in master packs during storage and that these concentrations were lower when compared to packages without oxygen scavengers. There were significant interactions of oxygen scavenger with ground beef (p < 0.0001) and oxygen scavenger with storage time for headspace oxygen concentrations (p < 0.0001).…”

“…It is important to note that work by several other investigators showed that O2 concentration in a modified atmosphere package with an oxygen scavenger drops rapidly after a few hours of storage (Charles et al, 2006;Gill and McGinnis, 1995b;Limbo et al, 2013;Miltz and Perry, 2005;Tewari et al, 2002). The presence of ground beef also increased the average oxygen concentration compared to packages without meat (p < 0.05).…”

“…The presence of ground beef also increased the average oxygen concentration compared to packages without meat (p < 0.05). This increase in oxygen concentration in master packs may be related to entrapped oxygen in the meat, in the overwrap tray headspace or in the tray matrix in cases where polystyrene foam trays are used (Limbo et al, 2013;Tewari et al, 2002;Venturini et al, 2006Venturini et al, , 2014. The use of oxygen scavengers, A and B effectively reduced oxygen concentration during master pack storage (p < 0.05).…”

“…Previous studies involving oxygen scavengers did not compare different brands (Beggan et al, 2006;Buys, 2004;Gill and McGinnis, 1995b;Isdell et al, 1999;Limbo et al, 2013;Venturini et al, 2006;Venturini et al, 2014). In a few studies, multiple oxygen scavengers were compared, but the focus was on oxygen kinetics (Charles et al, 2006;Miltz and Perry, 2005;Tewari et al, 2002).…”

“…Caution must be taken since residual oxygen that is present in the headspace gas can trigger meat discoloration (Gill and McGinnis, 1995a;Sørheim et al, 2009;Venturini et al, 2006). For this reason, oxygen scavengers in the retail package play a key role in controlling oxygen concentrations (Gill and McGinnis, 1995b;Jeyamkondan et al, 2000;Limbo et al, 2013;Tewari,et al, 2002). Headspace atmospheres usually include carbon dioxide to suppress microbial growth (Kennedy et al, 2005;Martínez et al, 2005;Tewari et al, 1999), allowing fresh meat to be stored for longer periods of time (Wilkinson et al, 2006).…”