The bacterial inactivation effect of amperage-based electrical stimulation in beef carcasses

Citation

Hui Wang, Nuria Prieto, Óscar López Campos, Brady Chabot, Xianqin Yang. 2022.The bacterial inactivation effect of amperage-based electrical stimulation in beef carcasses. Canadian Meat Council conference. June 13-15, 2022. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Résumé

High-voltage electrical stimulation (HVES) is routinely used in the beef industry for tenderizing carcasses. However, continuous increase in carcass weights in North America has questioned HVES efficacy. An amperage-based electrical stimulation (AES) with constant current was developed. This study aimed to investigate the microbiological impact of AES in beef carcasses as the treatment could affect meat pH, consequently, bacterial attachment and growth. A total of 72 carcass sides were treated at 45 min post-mortem by an AES prototype (2.04 A for 1 min with 2 s ON/2 s OFF pulses) at a federally inspected abattoir with a control group of 72 non-treated sides. After 72h air chilling, striploins were removed, vacuum-packed and stored at 1°C for 3d. Swab samples were collected from entire exterior carcass surfaces after 4-5h chilling and striploin surfaces after 3d of storage. The estimated surface areas were 8,000 cm2 and 400 cm2, respectively. The swab samples were processed for enumeration of total aerobes using 3M Aerobic Count Petrifilm plates. The AES was able to lower beef carcass pH at 3h and 3d post-mortem (P<0.001). The mean aerobic counts for AES-treated and not-treated carcasses were 2.61±0.71 and 2.65±0.72 log CFU/1000 cm2, respectively. The equivalent numbers for striploins were 0.32±0.69 and 0.52±0.65 log CFU/cm2. The median log counts of AES-treated and non-treated carcasses did not differ, but striploins from AES-treated carcasses (0.18 log CFU/cm2) had significantly lower bacterial counts than those from the control group (0.41 log CFU/cm2, P<0.05). These results suggest potential microbiological benefits of AES treatment.

Date de publication

2022-06-13

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