Targeted control of beef spoilage: Integrating slaughter-source tracking with packaging-temperature hurdles for...

Beef quality is intricately linked to microbial activity during slaughtering, processing and storage, where spoilage microorganisms play a pivotal role. To elucidate the dominant spoilage-related bacteria during beef storage and key contamination source, a storage experiment was conducted on beef packaged with air packaging (AP), vacuum packaging (VP), and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) and stored at 4 °C and -1 °C over 21 days. Using the high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA and assessment of food spoilage indicators, we found that different storage conditions (packaging and temperature) resulted in significantly quality differences, with AP under 4 °C showing faster spoilage compared to MAP and VP. Furthermore, the great changes in bacterial community diversity and structural dissimilarity occurred at key time points aligned with the beef spoilage. Through temporally continuous source tracking, we identified that Pseudomonas, Brochothrix, Acinetobacter, and Serratia were dominant bacteria strongly correlated with food spoilage, and originated from dehiding (BP) operation and spread via workers' gloves during quartered carcass & trimming (SF) stages. Together, these results implied that the storage conditions could influence beef quality by modifying the initial ecological niche of beef. And the pre-processing inhibition of contamination in the slaughterhouse, combined with post-slaughter control through proper storage conditions, plays a more critical role in the succession of spoilage bacteria. Our work highlights the comprehensive understanding of the ecological mechanisms related to beef spoilage, provides insights for beef preservation, and offers a solid theoretical and practical basis for optimizing meat preservation techniques and quality management strategies.