Effect of citric, acetic and propionic acid's spray on some microbial, chemical and organoleptic parameters of packaged beef

Effect of citric, acetic and propionic acid's spray, on some microbial, chemical andorganoleptic properties of packaged fresh chilled beef was studied. Chuck portion of bullsmeat was treated with 1% sterile solutions of each of citric, acetic and propionic acids priorto packaging. Meat samples were kept at 4°C and with 2-day intervals were examinedperiodically for microbial (aerobic mesophillic count, coliform count, psychrotrphic countand anaerobic count), chemical (pH and TVN) and organoleptic (drip, color and odor)properties. The experiment was performed with 20 repetitions. Results showed that thedifference between untreated and citric-acid-treated samples was insignificant (P>0.05) frommicrobial and chemical viewpoints; meanwhile this difference was highly significantbetween untreated and acetic and also propionic-acid-treated samples (P<0.01). But thedifference between acetic-acid-treated and propionic-acid-treated samples were insignificant(P>0.01). With respect to microbial and chemical properties of meat samples, it is possible tokeep untreated samples for 4-days period, meanwhile this period for citric-acid-treated was 5and for lactic-acid and propionic-acetic-treated samples were 7 days. Results also showedthat the organoleptic properties of untreated and treated samples were insignificant (P>0.01).Therefore, it is possible to use 1% concentration of such organic acids in order to increase thestorage time of beef without causing undesirable effects on organoleptic properties.