Application of ozone for reducing the microbial count of mechanically deboned chicken meat

Ozone is a strong oxidant and potent disinfecting agent and it has gained a lot of applications to preserve food commodities. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of ozonated water on the shelf-life of mechanically deboned chicken (MDC) during storage at 4 °C. Five different MDC samples were treated with ozone (0, 0.032, 0.065, 0.098, 0.13 ppm/g) and individually wrapped and stored at 4 ± 2 °C. The samples were analyzed for chemical (peroxide value) and microbiological (aerobic mesophilic counts, psychrotrophic counts, Staphylococcus aureus counts, coliform counts and mold and yeast counts) at 0, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15 days of refrigerated storage. The result showed that in comparison with the control sample, ozone treatment caused a significant (P