Bacterial microbiota shifts in vacuum-packed beef during storage at different temperatures: Impacts on blown pack spoilage

• Published in: Food microbiology 2024-05, Vol.119, p.104448-104448, Article 104448
• Main Authors: Freitas, Caio Fialho de, Carvalho, Lara Maria Vieira Flores, Camargo, Anderson Carlos, Almeida, Otávio Guilherme Gonçalves de, Oliveira, Rafael R.de, De Martinis, Elaine Pereira, Yamatogi, Ricardo Seiti, Nero, Luís Augusto
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Bacteria - genetics; Bacterial communities; Beef; Blown pack; Cattle; Clostridium; Food Microbiology; Food Packaging - methods; Meat - microbiology; Microbiota; Strict anaerobes; Temperature; Vacuum; Vacuum-packed
• ISSN: 0740-0020; 1095-9998
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fm.2023.104448

We aimed to evaluate the bacterial growth and diversity in vacuum-packed beef bags stored at different temperatures and to monitor blown-pack spoilage. We used culture-based methods and high-throughput sequencing to study the development of the main bacterial groups naturally present in beef stored at 4 and 15 °C for 28 days. The growth of sulfite-reducing clostridium (SRC) was impaired in beef bags stored at 4 °C; significant differences among SRC counts were observed in beef bags stored at 4 and 15 °C on days 14, 21, and 28 (P = 0.001). Blown pack was observed in most beef bags stored at 15 °C, from day 14 to day 28, but not in beef bags stored at 4 °C. A storage temperature of 4 °C was able to maintain a stable bacterial microbiota (most prevalent: Photobacterium, Hafnia-Obesumbacterium, and Lactococcus). Remarkable changes in microbial abundance occurred at 15 °C from day 14 to day 28, with a predominance of strict anaerobes (Bacteroides) and the presence of Clostridium spp. The relative frequencies of strict anaerobes and Clostridium were statistically higher in the beef bags stored at 15 °C (P