TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of Industrial Practices on the Microbial and Quality Attributes of Fresh Vacuum-Packed Lamb Joints
AU - de Alba, María
AU - Burgess, Catherine M.
AU - Pollard, Katie
AU - Perussello, Camila
AU - Frías-Celayeta, Jesús M.
AU - Walsh, Des
AU - Carroll, Joan
AU - Crofton, Emily
AU - Griffin, Carol
AU - Botinestean, Cristina
AU - Duffy, Geraldine
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2022/7/1
Y1 - 2022/7/1
N2 - The impact of different industrial practices at lamb export abattoirs in Ireland on the microbial and quality attributes of fresh vacuum-packed (VP) lamb leg joints, including Clean Livestock Policy (CLP), fleece clipping, carcass chilling times and vacuum pack storage, at typical chill and retail display temperatures was investigated. Five separate slaughter batches of lamb (ranging in size from 38 to 60 lambs) were followed at two lamb export plants over a two-year period, accounting for seasonal variation. In general, fleece clipping resulted in significantly lower microbial contamination on the fleece than the use of CLP alone. Lamb from carcasses chilled for 24 h had significantly lower psychrophilic total viable counts and Brochothrix thermosphacta and pseudomonad counts than carcasses chilled for 72 h. Following vacuum-packed (VP) storage of meat from these carcasses at 1.7 ± 1.6◦ C for 23 days in the meat plant followed by retail display at 3.9 ± 1.7◦ C (up to day 50), the dominant microorganisms were lactic acid bacteria, Br. thermosphacta, Enterobacteriaceae and pseudomonads, and all had reached maximum population density by storage day 34. Aligned with this, after day 34, the quality of the raw meat samples also continued to deteriorate, with off-odours and colour changes developing. While the mean values for cooked meat eating quality attributes did not change significantly over the VP storage period, high variability in many attributes, including off-flavours and off-odours, were noted for lamb meat from all storage times, highlighting inconsistences in lamb quality within and between slaughter batches.
AB - The impact of different industrial practices at lamb export abattoirs in Ireland on the microbial and quality attributes of fresh vacuum-packed (VP) lamb leg joints, including Clean Livestock Policy (CLP), fleece clipping, carcass chilling times and vacuum pack storage, at typical chill and retail display temperatures was investigated. Five separate slaughter batches of lamb (ranging in size from 38 to 60 lambs) were followed at two lamb export plants over a two-year period, accounting for seasonal variation. In general, fleece clipping resulted in significantly lower microbial contamination on the fleece than the use of CLP alone. Lamb from carcasses chilled for 24 h had significantly lower psychrophilic total viable counts and Brochothrix thermosphacta and pseudomonad counts than carcasses chilled for 72 h. Following vacuum-packed (VP) storage of meat from these carcasses at 1.7 ± 1.6◦ C for 23 days in the meat plant followed by retail display at 3.9 ± 1.7◦ C (up to day 50), the dominant microorganisms were lactic acid bacteria, Br. thermosphacta, Enterobacteriaceae and pseudomonads, and all had reached maximum population density by storage day 34. Aligned with this, after day 34, the quality of the raw meat samples also continued to deteriorate, with off-odours and colour changes developing. While the mean values for cooked meat eating quality attributes did not change significantly over the VP storage period, high variability in many attributes, including off-flavours and off-odours, were noted for lamb meat from all storage times, highlighting inconsistences in lamb quality within and between slaughter batches.
KW - chilling length
KW - fleece
KW - lamb carcass
KW - meat quality
KW - microbial load
KW - shelf-life
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85133134599&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/foods11131850
DO - 10.3390/foods11131850
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85133134599
SN - 2304-8158
VL - 11
JO - Foods
JF - Foods
IS - 13
M1 - 1850
ER -