Relationship of microbiological quality and oxidative stability of raw broiler meat during cold storage

The purpose of this study was to determine whether 2-thiobarbituric acid (TBA) values could be used to predict microbiological spoilage of poultry meat. The TBA values of control and inoculated (cultured breast skin microflora, 10(5) cells/mL) chicken breast and leg meat were examined at 0, 2, 7, and 14 days storage in slightly adverse storage conditions (6 C) and at 26 and 20 days, respectively, when spoilage occurred (10(8) cfu/g). Psychrotrophic counts were also obtained on these sampling days for control and inoculated breast and leg meat. Microbiological counts were significantly different for control and inoculated samples on each of the sampling days. However, no significant differences between TBA values of control and inoculated samples were noted on any of the sampling days. No difference was observed between the TBA value of the inoculated product, which had reached spoilage levels (10(8) cfu/g), and the control product, which was not spoiled (less than 10(7) cfu/g). Therefore, the TBA test is not an accurate predictor of microbiological spoilage of poultry meat.