Pork Quality and Shelf Life Based on Packaging Types

2024-04-21

A Comparative Study on Pork Quality and Shelf Life Based on Packaging Types 

X = number of micro-organisms (CFU/g) 

A = number of CFU counted on the plate 

V = reciproque value of the corresponding dilution 

I = volume of inoculum (1 mL for pour plates, 0.1 mL for spread plates) 

Day 0: All aerobic psychrotrophic count, lactic acid bacteria, and yeasts & molds were in proper range of the given EU criteria. Furthermore, all the concentrations of aerobic psychrotrophic count, lactic acid bacteria, and yeasts & molds were below the target value on day 0 indicating at manufacturing process of the fresh meat (at the end) can be considered as best practice.  

Original Packaging

MAP (Modified Atmosphere Packaging)

Vacuum Packaging

Day 7: Original packaging

MAP

Vacuum packaging

Day 7: For the total aerobic psychrotrophic count, with a best before date of 3 x 10⁶ cfu/g, the concentration was unsatisfied across all types of packaging including original, MAP, and vacuum. However, in the case of lactic acid bacteria (best before date = 3 x 10⁷ cfu/g), the concentration was acceptable in all packaging types. Similarly, for yeast (best before date = 3 x 10⁵ cfu/g), the concentration was also acceptable in all packaging types. As for molds (best before date = no visible mold formation), no molds were observed in any of the packaging types, indicating that they were acceptable.

To sum up, the experimental results showed that vacuum packaging, MAP, and original packaging are beneficial in that order in terms of preventing spoilage. 

The content and copyright of the experimental protocol belong to Ghent University.

Under no circumstances should any information be used for commercial purposes.