Background: Presently the consumption of sausages in Iran is on the increase. Considering the importance of hygienic/microbial aspects of their production, this study was conducted to determine the growth patterns of aerobic mesophilic and psychrotrophic microorganisms, moulds and yeasts in four heated red-meat product groups during storage for a period of 87days. This will be helpful when revising the respective national processed meat product standards.
Methods and materials:
The heated red-meat products were divided (based on percent meat content), according to the existing national standards, into 4 groups of 40%, 55%,8 0%, and 90% . Three samples of each group were produced in a meat processing plant. During processing, as well as during storage at 4°C for 87 days, the samples were tested for the microorganisms at 21 steps, twice at each step, according to National Standards No.5272 , 2629 and 997.
Results: The aerobic mesophilic bacterial count did not exceed the permitted limit (National Iranian Standards) during the study. However, other bacterial counts did exceed the respective limits in different samples at different time points as follows: 1. The psychrotrophic bacterial counts in the 90%-, 80%-, 55%-, and 40%-meat samples on days 32, 36, 44, and 52, respectively 2. The mould and yeast counts in the 90%-, 80%-, 55%-, and 40%-meat samples on days 59, 66, 80, and 87, respectively.
Conclusion: An increase in the meat content of the processed products causes an increase in the loads of all the three types of microorganism during storage. The psychrotrophic bacterial count can be used as an indicator of spoilage during storage.
Hosseini H, Ahmadi H, Akhavan H, Ferdowsi R, Khaksar R, Shahraz F et al . Growth patterns of aerobic mesophilic and psychrotrophic microorganisms, moulds and yeasts in four heated red-meat product groups during storage. Iranian J Nutr Sci Food Technol 2008; 3 (2) :33-40 URL: http://nsft.sbmu.ac.ir/article-1-79-en.html