In order to reduce the microbial load on the surface of broiler carcasses after slaughter and to extend its shelf life, the effects of ozone water treatment (OZ), ultrasonic combined with low-concentration sodium hypochlorite (SH-US), and combined treatment of ozone water with ultrasonic and low-concentration sodium hypochlorite (SH-US-OZ) on the decontamination of and preservation of tray-packaged chicken thighs during chilled storage were investigated. The results showed that all three treatments significantly reduced the bacterial load on the surface of chilled chicken thighs compared to the control group (P < 0.05). Among them, SH-US-OZ treatment showed the best decontamination efficiency. It reduced the initial total viable count (TVC) on the surface of chicken thighs by 96.6% from 5.72 to 4.25 (lg(CFU/g)), effectively slowed down the growth rate of microorganisms during storage, improved the sensory quality and surface brightness, and reduced the purge loss and total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) content. The combined treatment increased lipid oxidation and decreased the a^* value, but did not cause meat sensory deterioration. Thus, the SH-US-OZ treatment decontaminates and preserves chicken meat while using less sodium hypochlorite, effectively maintaining meat quality during storage, and extending the shelf life to more than 5 d.

This study investigated the changes in the color and key lipid oxidation products of beef M. longissimus dorsi steaks from fattened cattle during chilled storage under high-oxygen modified atmosphere packaging (HiOx-MAP) under the premise of excluding the influence of microbial growth, and it analyzed the correlation between them. The results showed that the color stability of beef steaks gradually decreased, and both the metmyoglobin reducing capacity and oxygen consumption rate significantly declined with storage time. Moreover, the degree of lipid peroxidation and the types and contents of lipid peroxidation products all markedly increased. A total of 27 lipid oxidation products were identified, mainly including aldehydes such as hexanal, nonanal, heptanal, (E)-2-octenal, (E)-2-nonenal and ketones like 3-hydroxybutanone and 2,3-octanedione. There was a strong correlation (P < 0.001) between the increase in the contents of lipid oxidation products and the decline in color stability during storage. The absolute values of the correlation coefficients between the contents of 2,3-octanedione, 1-hexanol, benzaldehyde, 3-hexen-2-one, (E,E)-2,4-nonadienal, and (E,E)-2,4-decadienal and the color parameter a* were equal to or above 0.95. A model describing the relationship between the a* value and lipid oxidation products was established using stepwise regression analysis. This study provides a theoretical basis for controlling the color of raw beef.

This study was undertaken in order to investigate the combined effect of high-CO₂ modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) and superchilling storage on the quality and shelf-life of beef during aging and display. The changes in quality characteristics and microbial load of bovine longissimus dorsi muscle during storage at 4 or −1.5 ℃ under different packaging conditions, 80% CO₂ MAP and vacuum packaging (VP). The results showed that 80% CO₂ MAP significantly improved blooming development and tenderness during aging (P < 0.05), and enhanced the redness value during display when combined with superchilling storage (P < 0.05). The combination of 80% CO₂ MAP and superchilling also significantly reduced the total viable count (TVC) and total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) content during both aging and display (P < 0.05). Therefore, this combination not only improved the tenderness and blooming ability of beef during aging, but also extended the shelf-life of beef.

Edible mushrooms are a general term for a class of large mushrooms that are available for human consumption and have medicinal value. In recent years, the rapid development of the economy has increased people’s demand for healthy meat, so the market for new meat products has broad space for development. Edible mushrooms are favored by consumers because they are rich in protein, polysaccharide and other nutrients, and have become another good raw material for new meat products. At present, edible mushrooms have been added to meat products as protein and fat substitutes to improve product texture characteristics while reducing saturated fatty acid intake, showing their broad market prospects in the development of new meat products. However, the addition of edible fungi will inevitably bring their own taste to meat products, causing changes in the quality of meat products. In addition, the incorporation of edible mushrooms in meat products can pose allergy risks for those allergic to edible mushrooms, which is a problem that the meat processing industry needs to pay attention to. In this paper, the nutritional value, functional properties and recent application of edible mushrooms in meat products are reviewed in order to provide a theoretical and technical reference for their further development and utilization in meat products.

This study investigated the effects of different combinations of sous-vide cooking temperature (11, 14 and 17 h) and time (57, 60 and 63 ℃ ) on the eating quality of beef Semimembranous muscle in terms of pH value, internal color of cooked meat, cooking loss, tenderness, and sensory scores. The results showed that as cooking time and cooking temperature increased, the pH value, shear force, cooking loss, L* value, and H* value of bovine Semimembranous muscle all showed an increasing trend, while the a*, b*, C*, and overall sensory score significantly decreased. The cooking loss increased from 28.98% to 33.06% over 11 to 17 hours, and from 27.2% to 36.5% over 57 to 63 ℃ ; the shear force increased from 40.14 to 61.08 N over 57 to 63 ℃ , indicating that as the cooking strength increased, both the water-holding capacity and tenderness decreased. At 57 ℃ and 11 hours, cooked beef had the lowest shear force of 42.58 N, which meets the demand of Chinese consumers for “tender meat”, and the highest scores for overall acceptability and internal color. Therefore, cooking at 57 ℃ for 11 hours can effectively improve the tenderness and water-holding capacity of beef Semimembranous muscles while avoiding some problems such as the reddish color and bland flavor of cooked meat and imparting it with better sensory quality and higher yield.

To address the problem of serious microbial spoilage of dark-cutting (DC) beef, this study investigated the changes in the sensory quality, microbial growth, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) contents of DC beef during storage under mother packaging (MP) consisting of 80% CO₂ and 20% N₂ or 40% CO₂ and 60% N₂, or vacuum packaging (VP) at chilled (4 ℃ ) or superchilled (-1.5 ℃ ) temperature and subsequent display under high-oxygen modified atmosphere packaging (HiOx-MAP) consisting of 60% O₂ and 40% CO₂ at 4 ℃ . The results showed that during superchilled storage, MP significantly inhibited bacterial growth, reduced the contents of certain VOCs (such as hexanal and 1-octen-3-ol), and thus maintained better odor freshness compared to VP; MP with 80% CO₂ concentration showed higher antibacterial effect, and it significantly reduced the concentration of 3-methyl-1-butanol in displayed DC beef steaks while promoting the formation of some VOCs such as diacetyl and hexanal. After storage under high-CO₂ MP, an off-odor was formed, but it disappeared at 15 min after opening the packaging, which did not cause any adverse effects on the freshness. Both CO₂ concentration and VP affected the change of the microbial community during storage. For all packaging treatments, Carnobacterium was the dominant bacteria after display under HiOx-MAP. The growth of Carnobacterium, Serratia and Leuconostoc may be the main cause of off-odor development in DC steaks throughout the storage and display periods. This study recommends the use of storage with 80% CO₂ MP at superchilled temperature and subsequent display under HiOx-MAP to extend the shelflife of DC beef and inhibit spoilage odor due to microbial growth.