In order to estimate the effect of gas atmosphere on the shelf-life of beef, as the first step, beef steaks were packaged in deep draw tray systems which were injected with O
2, CO
2 and their mixtures: (a)O
2=3, (b)O
2/CO
2=2/1, (c)O
2/CO
2=1/2, (d)CO
2=3. For these steaks, sensory evaluations, analyses of metmyoglobin, bacterial counts, pH, and volatile basic nitrogen were carried out. The sensory evaluation for color indicates that the higher the concentration of O
2, the brighter the redness of meat color. But, as for steaks stored in O
2=3, the surface discoloration was faster than the ones in the other atmospheres, and the significantly higher bacterial counts might be responsible for this discoloration. In the high CO
2-containing atmospheres, though the steaks had slightly acidic odor at first(2 day), they were comparatively in good quality in the final stage. The bacteriostatic effect of CO
2 was similarly recognized between 33-100%. The steaks showed the longest shelf-life as a consumer-pack, when they were stored in O
2/CO
2=2/1 gas atmosphere.
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