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Published on: November 22, 2011
Effects of gamma irradiation on microbial load and quality characteristics of veal
Ebrahim Rahimi1, Reza Faghihi, Milad Baradaran-Ghahfarokhi
1Department of Food Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Islamic Azad University of Shahr-e-kord, Shahr-e-kord, Iran.
Background:
Veal is a rich nutrient medium that provides a suitable environment for proliferation of veal spoiling microorganisms and common food-borne pathogens. In this study, the effects of irradiation on the veal microbiological quality and half life of minced beef during chilled storage was investigated.
Materials And Methods:
Twenty samples of minced veal were irradiated with doses of 2, 5, 7, and 10 kGy (Cobalt-60, gamma cell 220) and evaluated for their microbiological quality up to 10 days.
Results:
The results showed that gamma irradiation reduced the number of microorganisms in all the irradiated minced veal samples, with 2, 5, 7, and 10 kGy (P < 0.01). Moreover, the half life of the samples were increased considerably (P < 0.01). In addition, the results indicated that there was a significant difference in the number of coliformes between untreated and irradiated samples (P < 0.05). While, Staphylococcus aureus could not be detected in the irradiated samples with doses of 7 and 10 kGy.
Conclusion:
These results indicated that irradiation could be employed as an effective mean to inactivate common food-borne pathogens namely S. aureus and increases the half life of veal.
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