Abstract
Samples of ground beef were stored in anaerobic atmosphere using drugs of different abilities for deoxygenization. Controls were stored similarly in air packaging. At intervals of refrigerated storage up to 10 days, samples were removed for chemical, microbiological and sensory analysis. The values of total volatile bases and pH of samples kept in air increased extremely during storage and were judged sensuously as typical putrefaction at 10 days. These values of samples in anaerobic atmosphere increased only slightly. Total bacteria counts in samples in air packaging were higher than those in anaerobic atmosphere. More than 85% of bacteria on the initial day were Gram positive. At 10 days, more than 70% of bacteria in the samples in air packaging were Pseudomonas. and Enterobacteriaceae. In anaerobic atmosphere, more than 30% of bacteria were Lactobacillus, with approximately 20% of Pseudomonas. The storonger the ability for deoxygenization, the lesser the bacteria counts and the more Lactobacillus. This showed that the type of bacteria was related to the changes in total volatile bases and pH values. Consequently, it was confirmed that anaerobic storage using drugs for deoxygenization contributed to improving the shelf-life of fresh meat.
