ABSTRACT

Meat industries have shown increasing interest in the development of suitable techniques to extend shelf life and to improve consumer acceptance of products of animal origin while maintaining nutritional quality and ensuring safety (Chiavaro et al., 2008). Moreover, the need for fresh food supply to distant markets has increased the interest in procedures for extending the shelf life of products. Modied atmosphere packaging (MAP) is used in fresh meat to inhibit the microbial spoilage and to maintain the red color of meat (Brody, 1989; O’Connor-Shaw and Reyes, 2000). Color and appearance are major factors in consumer purchase decisions because they are often indicators of meat freshness (Brewer et al., 2002). The gases normally used are O2, CO2, and N2, whose effects and roles in the preservation of meat quality have been extensively reported (Church, 1994). Furthermore, there is limited use of other gases such as carbon monoxide (CO) (Gill, 1996). The choice of gas mixtures used is in›uenced by the product sensitivity to oxygen (O2) and carbon dioxide (CO2), the color stabilizing requirements, and the microbiological ›ora capable of growing on the product (Church, 1994). Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are the dominant microbiota in modied atmosphere packaged meats (Shaw and Harding, 1984; McMullen and Stiles, 1989). In high-O2 MAP (>50% O2), the O2 maintains the muscle pigments in the desirable oxymyoglobin state, but this form of MAP gives a short shelf life.