Effect of citric, acetic and propionic acids’ spray on some microbial, chemical and organoleptic parameters of packaged beef

Effect of citric, acetic and propionic acids' spray, on some microbial, chemical and organoleptic properties of packaged fresh chilled beef was studied. Chuck portion of bull's meat was treated with 1% sterile solutions of each of citric, acetic and propionic acids prior to packaging. Meat samples were kept at 4°C and with 2-day intervals were examined periodically for microbial (aerobic mesophillic count, coliform count, psychrotrphic count and anaerobic count), chemical (pH and TVN) and organoleptic (drip, color and odor) properties. The experiment was performed with 20 repetitions. Results showed that the difference between untreated and citric-acid-treated samples was insignificant (P>0.05) from microbial and chemical viewpoints; meanwhile this difference was highly significant between untreated and acetic and also propionic-acid-treated samples (P0.01). With respect to microbial and chemical properties of meat samples, it is possible to keep untreated samples for 4-days period, meanwhile this period for citric-acid-treated was 5 and for lactic-acid and propionic-acetic-treated samples were 7 days. Results also showed that 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 the storage time of beef without causing undesirable effects on organoleptic properties