Quality characteristics of pork patties irradiated and stored in different packaging and storage conditions
Introduction
The number of reported outbreaks of Escherichia coli has increased rapidly and it is estimated to cause more than 20,000 infections and 250 deaths each year (Boyce, Swerdlow & Griffin, 1995). Olson (1998) indicated that low-dose (<10 kGy) irradiation can kill at least 99.9% of salmonella in poultry and an even higher percentage of E. coli O157:H7. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved irradiation for poultry and red meats to control foodborne pathogens and extend product shelflife (Gants, 1998). One of the major concerns with irradiating meat, however, is its effect on lipid oxidation, color and off-odor production.
The mechanisms of lipid oxidation in irradiated meat are not fully understood, but they are likely to be similar to those in nonirradiated meat. Therefore, the susceptibility of irradiated muscle tissues to lipid oxidation is closely related to the nature, proportion, degrees of saturation in fatty acids and the composition of phospholipids in cell membrane (Gray, Gomma & Buckley, 1996). Ang and Lyon (1990) reported that hexanal and pentanal had a strong correlation with TBARS and off-odor related to lipid oxidation in meat. But, lipid oxidation alone cannot produce the characteristic irradiation odor because meat irradiated in an oxygen-impermeable package, which theoretically stops lipid oxidation, still produces irradiation odor.
Ahn, Jo and Olson (1999) suggested that volatile compounds responsible for off-odor in irradiated meat are produced by radiation impact on protein and lipid molecules and are different from those of lipid oxidation. Patterson and Stevenson (1995) showed that dimethyltrisulfide is the most potent off-odor compound in irradiated raw chicken meat. Our recent study (Jo & Ahn, 2000) showed that irradiation produced characteristic volatile compounds from a meat model system containing leucine, valine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, methionine or cysteine by radiolytic degradations. This indicated that both radiolysis of proteins and lipid oxidation are important for off-odor generation in irradiated meat. But, the quality changes in irradiated raw meat with different packaging and storage conditions are not clear yet. The objective of this study was to elucidate the effect of different doses of irradiation on lipid oxidation, odor and volatile compound production in vacuum- or aerobic-packaged pork patties during refrigerated or frozen storage.
Section snippets
Sample preparation and irradiation
Pork loins were purchased (less than 4 days after slaughter) from four different local stores and were individually ground twice through a 9-mm plate. Patties (approximately 80 g each) were made and packaged in bags of two different packaging materials: one half of the patties were packaged (−1.0 bar) in oxygen-impermeable nylon/polyethylene bags (9.3 ml O2/m2/24 h at 0°C; Koch, Kansas City, MO) and the other half in oxygen-permeable polyethylene zipper bags (4×6, 2 MIL, Associated Bag Company,
Lipid oxidation
The TBARS of vacuum-packaged patties irradiated at 1.5, 3.0 or 4.5 kGy and stored at 4°C were not much different from those of the nonirradiated control at each storage time. However, the TBARS value of pork patties stored at 4°C for 1 week showed the highest among all storage periods. Vacuum packaging changes the gaseous environment at the meat surface: respiration of microorganisms at the meat surface or the meat itself produces CO2 and eventually the oxygen concentration within the pack
Conclusion
The use of vacuum packaging is more beneficial than the use of aerobic packaging for irradiated meat because vacuum packaging minimizes oxidative changes. Aerobic packaging is not a good practice for the long-term storage of meat. But, aerobic packaging may be useful for short-term storage of irradiated pork patties because compounds that are responsible for irradiation off-odor can be reduced during the storage period.
Acknowledgments
Journal Paper No. J-18758 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames, IA. Project No. 3322, and supported by the Food Safety Consortium.
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