This study correlated the composition of the spoilage bacterial flora with the main gaseous and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found in the package headspace of spoiled, chilled, vacuum-packed meat. Fifteen chilled, vacuum-packed beef samples, suffering from blown pack spoilage, were studied using 16S rRNA clone sequencing. More than 50% of the bacteria were identified as lactic acid bacteria (LAB), followed by clostridia and enterobacteria. Fifty-one volatile compounds were detected in the spoiled samples. Although the major spoilage compounds were identified as alcohols and aldehydes, CO2 was identified as the major gas in the spoiled samples by headspace technique. Different species of bacteria contribute to different volatile compounds during meat spoilage. LAB played an important role in blown pack deterioration of the Brazilian beef studied.
Significance and impact of the study: The data generated by this study provided useful information to correlate the microbial contamination of Enterobacteriaceae, lactic acid bacteria and Clostridium with the VOC and gaseous compound production to define, in a faster manner, not only the type of contamination, but also to prevent it.
Keywords: 16S rRNA; beef; blown pack spoilage; volatile compounds.
© 2012 ESALQ/USP.