title: Shelf-life extension of vacuum-packaged meat from pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) by lactic acid treatment.
abstract: We investigated the influence of lactic acid treatment of pheasant meat before vacuum-packaged storage of 3, 7, and 10 d at +6°C on microbiota and pH. Breast muscle samples were collected from carcasses of slaughtered as well as from hunted (shot) wild pheasants. Immersion of meat samples in 3% (wt/wt) lactic acid for 60 s effectuated a significant drop in pH of approximately 0.5 to 0.7 units, which remained during the entire storage period. In parallel, total aerobic counts of such treated and stored samples were on an average 1.5 to 1.7 log units lower than in non-acid-treated samples. Similar results were found for Enterobacteriaceae. A significant decrease in pH was measured at d 7 and 10 in the acid-treated samples in comparison with the untreated ones. In summary, the immersion of pheasant breast meat cuts in dilute lactic acid significantly reduced microbiota during vacuum-packed storage, even at slight temperature abuse conditions.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Meat Hygiene, Meat Technology and Food Science, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Agathe
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pfeifer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Meat Hygiene, Meat Technology and Food Science, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Frans J M
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Smulders
authors.affiliation: Institute of Meat Hygiene, Meat Technology and Food Science, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria peter.paulsen@vetmeduni.ac.at.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Paulsen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D005516:Food Microbiology; D018857:Food Packaging; D005519:Food Preservation / Q000379:methods*; D046094:Galliformes; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000592:standards; D010369:Pectoralis Muscles / Q000382:microbiology; D011897:Random Allocation; D013696:Temperature; D014618:Vacuum
chemical_list: D019344:Lactic Acid
keywords: lactic acid; microbial shelf life; pheasant meat; vacuum package