Cold plasmas combined with Ar-based MAP for meatball products: Influence on microbiological shelflife and quality attributes
Ran Li, Heyuan Zhu, Yongfang Chen, Guanghong Zhou, Chunbao Li, Keping Ye
Abstract
This study was to evaluate the cold plasma treated times (0, 3, 6, and 9 min) combining with Ar-based MAP on the microbiological shelflife and quality attributes in meatballs. Results showed that Ar-6 min and Ar-9 min groups could significantly decrease the initial counts of microorganism by 1.02 and 1.19 log CFU/g in meatballs, respectively, besides the shelf-life was prolonged for 14 days. Compared with the control group, the relative abundance of unclassified-Enterobacteriaceae and Acinetobacter were decreased from 19.04% to 12.54% and 30.88%–2.25% in the Ar-6 min group, respectively. Cold plasma treatment did not significantly change the initial TVB-N, although the lipid oxidation values were slightly higher in the Ar-6 min 0.93 mg/kg and Ar-9 min groups 0.92 mg/kg compared with the control group 0.83 mg/kg. Results of GC-IMS analysis revealed that, unlike the Ar-6 min group, the original odor of Ar-9 min was significantly different from the fresh meatballs, which may be related to marked higher contents of decanal, e−2-nonenal, benzene acetaldehyde, and benzaldehyde in Ar-9 min groups. Taken together, it is indicated that Ar-based MAP combining with cold plasma treated for 6 min was more suitable to be applied for the preservation of meatballs.