The Development of Microbial Count, Psychrotrophic Count, Odor, and Catalase Activity in Chicken Meat Treated with Organic Acid During Shelf Life at Refrigerated Storage

This study was conducted to evaluate the shelf life of chicken meat after treatment with 10% trisodium phosphate (TSP), 1% lactic acid (LA), and 0.5% acetic acid (AA) solutions. Total count, psychrotrophic count, off-odor, and catalase activity were examined. Chicken carcasses were sprayed with TSP, LA, AA, for 10 seconds and stored at 4 ± 0.5°C for 15 days. Total count of chicken surface control reached 6.5 log CFU/g after 7 days while it reached 5.8, 5.5, and 6.2 log CFU/g in, 10% TS, 0.5% AA, and 1% LA after 13 days of storage, respectively. Total count and psychrotrophic count were significantly lower (P<0.05) for chicken samples treated with LA, AA and TSP than the control samples throughout the entire storage period. Sensory acceptability limit (off-odors) was reached for the control chicken samples on the day 7th, on day 13th for the samples treated with LA, and on day 15th for TSP, and AA treated samples. The number of the catalase positive colonies increased in the control from 78% to 93% within 7 day; also it increased from 70% to 90% in treated samples within 7 day. At the end of the storage period, the effectiveness of TSP and AA was higher than that of LA. The use of TSP, AA, and LA extended the shelf-life period 8, 8, and 6 days for chicken meats, respectively.