High pressure treatment of marinated poultry meat
Improving product safety and production planning
Poultry meat is rich in protein. Due to its biological value it has a high nutritional significance. In 2008, the per capita consumption in Germany was about 18.5 kg; this is an increase of 500 g compared to the previous year. In particular during the barbeque season, there is a large demand for chicken and turkey meat. Most of these products are marketed as convenience product or as seasoned, marinated, fresh or frozen BBQ meat.
Fresh marinated products contain a broad range of microorganisms which have been introduced via the raw poultry meat, the marinade and the seasoning. Moreover, cutting, portioning, preparation and packaging processes also contribute to the contamination rate. Thus the shelf life of such products is limited to 10-14 days. In particular when the meat shall be used for BBQ, the production must be adapted to the varying seasonal and meteorological conditions. Short distribution times and last minute orders of fresh marinated poultry meat by the retail trade result in fluctuating processing volumes and uncertain production predictability. This means that the products may not be sold completely. Because it is not possible to apply thermal processes with fresh products, the high pressure treatment is a unique technical method to preserve fresh, thermally sensitive food products.
Other than in thermal processes, pressure rapidly spreading through the product is the main processing parameter in this process. The low energy requirement is another significant advantage. Added to that, because this process can be applied inside the final packaging the recontamination risk is reliably eliminated. The detrimental effect on vegetative microorganisms and spores that can be observed is due to changes in metabolic processes, to membrane integrity and the functioning of transport proteins.
High pressure treatment of fresh and marinated poultry meat has been applied at DIL in order to examine and identify possible improvements in terms of product safety and production planning.
It was shown that high pressure treatment can expand the shelf life of poultry products to more than 28 days. It can be anticipated that such a process contributes to more food safety and improved production planning and sales potential. Also, due to the prolonged shelf life, the export of high pressure treated niche and specialty products will be improved or, depending on the country of destination and respective legal requirements, made possible after all.
Depending on the processing parameters used, the microorganisms in the products are not just inactivated; it is also possible to adjust certain functional and quality properties of the meat as well, including shear force, color and the possibility to immobilize water, just to name a few. The degree of influence can be controlled by using a respectively formulated marinade.
In addition to the examinations already concluded, the respective parameters for the high pressure treatment of poultry meat shall be investigated in detail within the scope of an AiF/FEI sponsored research project with the objective to simplify the selection of suitable processing conditions.
Contact partner at DIL is:
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Stefan Toepfl
Prof.-v.-Klitzing-Str. 7
D-49610 Quakenbrueck
Tel.: +49 (0) 5431 183 140
Fax: +49 (0) 5431 183 114
E-Mail: s.toepfl@dil-ev.de
