Methods of Preservation of Poultry Meat

Methods of Preservation of Poultry Meat

Preservation methods are crucial in maintaining the quality, safety, and shelf life of poultry meat, ensuring that consumers receive products that meet high standards of freshness and flavor. This article explores various methods of preserving poultry meat, ranging from traditional techniques to modern innovations, highlighting their effectiveness in extending the storage life and maintaining the sensory attributes of poultry products.

INTRODUCTION

• Meat is a highly perishable food.
• Susceptible to deterioration by microbial growth, chemical change and breakdown by endogenous enzymes.
• Destroying microbial growth and enzymes using heating procedures (cooking and canning),or removal of water by drying or osmotic control.
• very recently, ionising Use of chemicals to inhibit growth  radiation.
• Traditionally drying in wind and sun, salting and smoking to preserve it.

How to preserve meat

Deep freeze

• easiest way to preserve meat for the short term is freezing.
• meat wrapped tightly in foil or in plastic package.

Salt

• used as a means of preserving meat.
• either rubbed on meat or meat is dipped in brine.

Pickle the meat

• using vinegar and spices
• vinegar keeps parasites and bacteria away for up to six months
• spices add taste to meat.

Jerky

• popular method of preserving meat
• drying out the meat

 Meat preservation:

• highly perishable due to nearly neutral pH (low acid food)
• high moisture  and rich nutrients.
• good source for  microbial growth
• various undesirable biochemical reactions leading to its deterioration.
• different procedures employed to stop the undesirable conditions

Various preservation  methods:

1. Chilling /Refrigeration
2. Freezing
3. Curing
4. Smoking
5. Canning
6. Dehydration
7. Irradiation

Chilling/Refrigeration

• widely used method for short term storage
• slows down the microbial growth and enzymatic as well as chemical reactions.
• technique of preservation applied from ancient times
• meat was stored in natural caves where temperatures were relatively low throughout the year.
• Chilling  reduces surface temperature
• enhance carcass drying resulting in reduction of microbial growth. ØCritical process in terms of meat hygiene, safety, shelf life,appearance and eating quality.
• temperature for chilling process ranges from1°C to 4°C.
• slaughtering and meat cutting carried out under strict hygienic conditions.
• refrigeration begins with chilling of animal carcasses continues through the entire  process of  holding, cutting, transit, retail display and even in the consumer household before ultimate use.
• relative humidity  generally kept 90%
• carcasses first held in chill coolers (15°C) to remove their body heat
• passed on to holding coolers (5°C).
• Poultry with high microbial load.
• Care taken during handling to check further microbial contamination.
• Refrigerated temperatures favor the growth of psychrophilic organisms
• Causing spoilage of meat occurs in due course of time.
• fresh meat maintains good condition for a period of 5-7 days at a refrigerated temperature of 4±1°C.
• Processed  meat  products  are       stored  under  refrigeration  have long shelf life as compared to their raw ones.
• Processed products less perishable and life of poultry meat is 3-6 months under refrigerated conditions.

Freezing

• best and most simple option for preserving poultry.
• process for long term preservation of meat.
• stops the microbial growth and retards the action of enzymes
• retains most of the nutritive value of meat during storage
• little loss of nutrients occur in the drip during thawing process
• Meat wrapped in suitable packaging films before freezing to prevent it from under going freeze burn.
• slow freezing freezes the outer water more quickly as compared to inner water resulting  in  formation  of  larger  ice  crystals  damaging  the  muscle tissue.
• fast freezing,  forms various small ice crystals uniformly throughout the tissue.
• drip loss during thawing is low in fast freezing
• small ice crystals also impart it a desired lighter colour as compared to slow frozen meat.

Types of freezers:

Different  freezers are used such as;

• Plate type freezers with  temperature -10°c.
• Blast type freezers with temperature from -10 to -30°C.

Curing:

• It is a heavy salting age old practice.
• widely used method of preserving meat before the days of refrigeration.
• done for imparting specific flavor and colour development, in addition to preservative effect.
• main ingredients include sodium chloride, sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate and sugar.

 Properties of ingredients:

Sodium chloride /common salt;

• inhibits the growth of spoilage bacteria by dehydration and alteration of osmotic pressure
• slows down the action of enzymes.
• reacts with fatty acids to enhance the flavor of the cured products.
• contributes to the tenderness of the product.

Sodium nitrates and nitrite;

• responsible for imparting the attractive cured meat colour and characteristic cured meat flavor.
• Nitrates and nitrites permitted levels ;500 ppm and 200 ppm respectively
• inhibit the growth of a number of bacteria especially Clostridium botulinum.
• also retard the development of rancidity.

Sugar:

• suppresses the harsh hardening effect of salt  adds to the flavour development
• also serves as an energy source for nitrate reducing bacteria in the curing solution.
• Mainly sucrose or dextrose used for this purpose

Smoking:

• known to man as a preservation for a long time.
• meat is subjected to smoke house, where saw dust or hardwood are subjected to combustion at a temperature of about 300°C. ØHigh temperature desirable to minimize the production of carcinogenic compounds.
• Smoke generation accompanied by formation of numerous organic compounds (aldehydes, ketones, organic aicds, phenols etc) and their condensation products.
• Aldehydes and phenols condense to form resins contribute most of the colour of smoked meat products.
• Phenols act as bacteriostatic formal- dehyde as bactericidal compound besides imparting characteristic smoky flavor.
• Preservation also due to surface dehydration, lowering of surface pH and antioxidant property of smoke constituents.
• Curing and smoking of meat are interrelated

Canning:

• applying heat to sealed food container in order to destroy microorganisms  thermal sterilization of a product held in hermetically sealed containers is achieved.
• preserves the sensory attributes such as appearance, flavor and texture to a large extent.
• have a shelf life of atleast 2 years at ambient temperature.

Canning process is performed as:-

Lean and clean meat taken and mixed with gravy

• prepared using condiments, tomatoes, dry spices,and  salt in water
• cooked for some time so that all the ingredients get properly mixed in the water.
• mixture  then precooked at 70°C for 15 minutes.
• filled in cans by leaving proper headspace.
• exhausted to remove the air from the container.
• seaming is done and then retorting or thermal processing to achieve sterility.
• At last cooling performed followed by storage at cool and dry place.

Dehydration:

• oldest known method of preserving food  dried and exposed to a temperature high enough to remove the moisture.
• process of removal of water from meat nutrients making them unavailable to the microorganisms.
• lowers the water activity considerably prevent the growth of spoilage organisms.
• Different drying procedures are employed such as mechanical drying, freeze drying, etc.
• Mechanical involves the passage of hot air with controlled humidity.
• Freeze drying satisfactory process ,due to better reconstitution properties, nutritive quality and acceptability.
• Freeze drying involves removal of water from a food by sublimation keeping it under vacuum and giving a low heat treatment.
• Meat is first frozen at -40 °C.
• Then dried under vacuum for 9-12 hours at low temperature in plate heat exchangers at 1 to 1.5 mm pressure of mercury.
• Ice crystals get sublimated to water vapour no rise of temperature.

Irradiation:

• Radiation is the emission and propagation of energy in the material medium.
• works by exposing meat to radiant energ destroys most but not all microorganisms.
• can destroy the microorganisms by fragmenting their DNA molecules causing ionization of inherent water within microorganisms.
• microbial destruction takes place without significantly raising the temperature of food.
• Irradiation referred as cold sterilization.
• Among radiations, alpha and beta-rays are used Gamma radiations produce desired effect only during food irradiation.
• dose of 50-100K rad enhance the shelf-life of fresh meat cuts and poultry products by 19 days dose of 4-5 Mrad  can sterilize pork, poultry and fish.
• ultraviolet radiations of 2650A° are most bactericidal in nature, dose of 2 – 5 kGy extend the shelf life of poultry stored at 1-3°C by 8-14 days.

Preservation methods play a vital role in maintaining the quality, safety, and shelf life of poultry meat, meeting consumer demand for fresh, flavorful, and convenient products. From traditional techniques like refrigeration and freezing to modern innovations such as vacuum packaging and modified atmosphere packaging, poultry processors employ a range of preservation methods to ensure that poultry meat products reach consumers in optimal condition. By understanding and implementing effective preservation strategies, the poultry industry can meet the diverse needs of consumers while upholding standards of food safety and quality.

https://www.ndvsu.org/images/StudyMaterials/VPH/methods_of_preservation_of_meat.pdf

https://www.egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/10519/1/Unit-10.pdf

Compiled  & Shared by- This paper is a compilation of groupwork provided by the Team, LITD (Livestock Institute of Training & Development)

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