Response of microbial time temperature indicator to quality indices of chicken breast meat during storage

Effect of different vacuum levels for beef brisket during cold storage: A microbiological and physicochemical analysis

Effect of packaging at different vacuum levels such as 7.2 Pa (99.99% vacuum), 30 kPa (70.39%), 70 kPa (30.91%), and 101.33 kPa (0%, atmospheric condition) using a specially designed airtight container on physicochemical and microbial properties of beef brisket cuts during cold storage was investigated. Dramatic pH increase was found only in air atmospheric packaging. Higher vacuum level yielded higher water holding capacity and lower volatile basic nitrogen (VBN), 2-thiobarbituric acid (TBA), and growth rate of aerobic bacteria and coliforms, whereas the fatty acid composition showed no difference among various vacuum levels. The highest vacuum level (7.2 Pa) yielded no increases in VBN, TBA, and coliform and the least increase in aerobe counts. For bacterial communities, higher vacuum levels yielded higher proportions of Leuconostoc, Carnobacterium, and lactobacilli belonging to the phylum Firmicutes and lower proportions of Pseudomonas belonging to the phylum Proteobacteria. Predictive curves for bacterial communities showed that just a little oxygen significantly affects the bacterial dominance based on different oxygen dependence of individual bacteria and their logarithmic changes by vacuum level.

Application of intelligent packaging for meat products: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Today, in response to consumer demand and market trends, the development of new packaging with better performance such as intelligent packaging has become more important. This packaging system is able to perform intelligent functions to increase shelf life, increase safety and improve product quality.

OBJECTIVES

Recently, various types of packaging systems are available for meat products, especially cooked, fresh and processed meats. But because meat products are very perishable, monitoring their quality and safety in the supply chain is very important. This systematic article briefly reviews some of the recent data about the application of intelligent packaging in meat products.

METHODS

The search was conducted in Google Scholar, Science Direct, Elsevier, Springer, Scopus, and PubMed, from April 1996 to April 2021 using a different combination of the following keyword: intelligent packaging, and meat.

RESULTS

The results showed that the intelligent packaging presents several benefits compared to traditional packaging (e.g., antimicrobial, antioxidant, and shelf life extension) at the industrial processing level. Thus, these systems have been applied to improve the shelf life and textural properties of meat and meat products.

CONCLUSIONS

It is necessary to control the number of intelligent compounds that are included in the packaging as they clearly influence the quality and nutritional properties as well as the final cost of the food products.

Temperature-Controlled Conversion of Boc-Protected Methylene Blue: Advancing Solid-State Time-Temperature Indicators

Cold-chain management is of high importance in preserving perishable products and in retaining quality. A visible marker on packages indicating complete maintenance of the cold chain assures safe consumption of products by end-users and assists in reducing waste. Time-temperature indicators (TTIs) are integrated markers that provide information about exposure of packages to adverse temperature and have been gaining increased attention by consumers. Here we present a methylene-blue-based derivative, N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-N10 -Boc-phenothiazine-3,7-diamine (BocPTDA), that can be used as a solid-state organic TTI dye, exhibiting an irreversible change from colorless to blue green upon heating. The conversion properties, studied using a silicagel-coated plate, confirmed that BocPTDA undergoes a color change above 20 °C. At temperatures of 4 °C and below, no visible changes are exhibited, making BocPTDA a well-suited marker for monitoring abrupt temperature deviations indicating improper cold-chain management. Thus, application of BocPTDA-based TTI systems on packages could inform consumers about the cold-chain maintenance, assuring quality and safe consumption.

Informative and corrective responsive packaging: Advances in farm-to-fork monitoring and remediation of food quality and safety

Microbial growth and fluctuations in environmental conditions have been shown to cause microbial contamination and deterioration of food. Thus, it is paramount to develop reliable strategies to effectively prevent the sale and consumption of contaminated or spoiled food. Responsive packaging systems are designed to react to specific stimuli in the food or environment, such as microorganisms or temperature, then implement an informational or corrective response. Informative responsive packaging is aimed at continuously monitoring the changes in food or environmental conditions and conveys this information to the users in real time. Meanwhile, packaging systems with the capacity to control contamination or deterioration are also of great interest. Encouragingly, corrective responsive packaging attempting to mitigate the adverse effects of condition fluctuations on food has been investigated. This packaging exerts its effects through the triggered release of active agents by environmental stimuli. In this review, informative and corrective responsive packaging is conceptualized clearly and concisely. The mechanism and characteristics of each type of packaging are discussed in depth. This review also summarized the latest research progress of responsive packaging and objectively appraised their advantages. Evidently, the mechanism through which packaging systems respond to microbial contamination and associated environmental factors was also highlighted. Moreover, risk concerns, related legislation, and consumer perspective in the application of responsive packaging are discussed as well. Broadly, this comprehensive review covering the latest information on responsive packaging aims to provide a timely reference for scientific research and offer guidance for presenting their applications in food industry.

Recent Developments in Smart Food Packaging Focused on Biobased and Biodegradable Polymers

Food packaging has a crucial function in the modern food industry. New food packaging technologies seek to meet consumers and industrial's demands. Changes related to food production, sale practices and consumers' lifestyles, along with environmental awareness and the advance in new areas of knowledge (such as nanotechnology or biotechnology), act as driving forces to develop smart packages that can extend food shelf-life, keeping and supervising their innocuousness and quality and also taking care of the environment. This review describes the main concepts and types of active and intelligent food packaging, focusing on recent progress and new trends using biodegradable and biobased polymers. Numerous studies show the great possibilities of these materials. Future research needs to focus on some important aspects such as possibilities to scale-up, costs, regulatory aspects, and consumers' acceptance, to make these systems commercially viable.

Prediction of fruit quality based on the RGB values of time-temperature indicator

Time-temperature indicators (TTIs) are cost-efficient tools that may be used to predict food quality. In this paper, a diffusion TTI was used to predict fruit quality during storage. Both the color changing characters of TTI and the quality parameters, including weight loss, soluble solids content, vitamin C content, titratable acidity, and antioxidant capacity of three kinds of fruits (kiwifruit, strawberry, and mango), were investigated for storage temperatures (5, 10, 15, and 20 °C). The relationships between the color changing properties and fruit quality parameters have been built based on the activation energy (E_a ). The results showed that the storage temperature and time had significant effects on the color changing of TTI and fruit quality. The RGB value of TTI decreased with time, and the higher the storage temperature, the faster the RGB value reduced. Also, the higher the storage temperature, the faster the fruit quality changed and the poorer they were. Furthermore, all of the differences of E_a between TTI color response and fruit quality change are less than 25 kJ/mol, which indicates that the TTI can be used to predict these fruit quality. Finally, prediction models were built and validated based on the RGB values of TTI. It provides the possibility for low-cost quality monitoring and has more application potential in food quality predicting. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: By monitoring the color change of diffuse time-temperature indicator (TTI) and the quality change of fruit, the feasibility of TTI for fruit quality monitoring was determined and the quality prediction model was established. The diffusion TTI and fruit quality prediction model can realize the monitoring and predicting of fruit quality based on the TTI, which provides a basis for the combination of TTI Quick Response Code and fruit quality monitoring, with a view to achieving fruit quality status by scanning the Quick Response Code of TTI with mobile phones in the future. This method may provide a new solution to monitor the fruit quality during storage and distribution based on visualization technology that can simplify the methods of detecting fruit quality and achieve fast quality detection. It provides the possibility for low-cost quality monitoring and has more application potential in food quality predicting. Further studies on diffusion TTI are needed to develop its application in more field of food and make the diffusion TTI an intelligent mean for food quality monitoring and predicting.

Freshness-based real-time shelf-life estimation of packaged chicken meat under dynamic storage conditions

The current study was performed to develop dynamic quality and shelf-life prediction models using selected index for packaged chicken meat during storage. Generally, the results showed that meat deterioration, with respect to the different quality indices considered in the investigation, proceeds with increasing temperature and storage time. Highly significant (P ≤ 0.01) correlations were obtained between TPC (total plate count) and SI (sensory index) (r = −0.94 to −0.97), coliforms and SI (r = −0.89 to −0.95), and LAB (lactic acid bacteria) and SI (r = −0.93 to −0.98). However, only the microbiological spoilage regarding TPC, whose values ranged from 7.0 to 8.0 log CFU/g under all investigated temperature conditions, were in compliance with the end of sensory shelf-life defined at SI = 5. To develop dynamic quality prediction model, 4 isothermal (0, 4, 10, and 15°C) experiments in 2 batches were performed for TPC evaluation. Growth data were fitted in the Baranyi and Roberts and quadratic polynomial model as the primary and secondary models, respectively. The model was validated under dynamic conditions (0–8°C scenario with periodic 12-h changes). The accuracy and bias factors were estimated to be 1.045 and 0.991 for fluctuating conditions and 1.016 and 1.015 for real-time conditions, respectively, suggesting good applicability of the model. The remaining shelf-life estimation model developed based on mean kinetic temperature showed an even decrease of shelf-life under dynamic conditions in time. The developed model scan can be used for effective monitoring of packaged chicken meat freshness and shelf-life during distribution with temperature fluctuation.

Guideline for proper usage of time temperature integrator (TTI) avoiding underestimation of food deterioration in terms of temperature dependency: A case with a microbial TTI and milk

Time-temperature integrators (TTIs) can be used to predict food deterioration. However, underestimation of the magnitude of deterioration is not desirable. This study aims to establish guidelines in terms of temperature dependency (Arrhenius activation energy, Ea) to avoid such underestimation by proper use of TTIs. A case study was executed with a microbial TTI and milk. The Ea of the TTI color change was 106 kJ/mol and those of milk deterioration factors aerobic mesophilic bacteria count, lactic acid bacteria count, ln lactic acid %, and pH were 101, 107, 122, and 145 kJ/mol, respectively. The deterioration factors with values of Ea larger than that of TTI, ln lactic acid %, LAB, and pH, were found to be underestimated as compared to their actual levels by prediction from TTI color change, leading to potential consumption of deteriorated milk.

Active and intelligent packaging systems for a modern society

Active and intelligent packaging systems are continuously evolving in response to growing challenges from a modern society. This article reviews: (1) the different categories of active and intelligent packaging concepts and currently available commercial applications, (2) latest packaging research trends and innovations, and (3) the growth perspectives of the active and intelligent packaging market. Active packaging aiming at extending shelf life or improving safety while maintaining quality is progressing towards the incorporation of natural active agents into more sustainable packaging materials. Intelligent packaging systems which monitor the condition of the packed food or its environment are progressing towards more cost-effective, convenient and integrated systems to provide innovative packaging solutions. Market growth is expected for active packaging with leading shares for moisture absorbers, oxygen scavengers, microwave susceptors and antimicrobial packaging. The market for intelligent packaging is also promising with strong gains for time-temperature indicator labels and advancements in the integration of intelligent concepts into packaging materials.