journal article·2025-09-09Open access

Microbial Spoilage Dynamics, Free Amino Acid Profile Alterations, and Biogenic Amine Accumulation in Beef Under Different Packaging Systems During Extended Storage

Marta Chmiel, Olga Świder, Daria Padewska, Elżbieta Hać-Szymańczuk, Lech Adamczak, Aneta Cegiełka, Tomasz Florowski, Dorota Pietrzak, Iwona Szymańska, Marcin Bryła, Marek Łukasz Roszko

Applied Sciences· Volume 15· Issue 18

Abstract

This study evaluated the microbiological quality, free amino acid profile (FAAs), and the biogenic amine (BA) accumulation in beef steaks during extended storage under 0–4 °C in modified atmosphere (MAP O2/CO2/N2): MAP80/20/0, MAP70/20/10, MAP60/20/20, and vacuum (VP). The VP meat had significantly higher Enterobacteriaceae counts than MAP meat, influencing BA accumulation. The total plate count (TPC) exceeded the acceptable fresh meat limit (107 cfu/g) on day 28 of beef storage, regardless of packaging method. The dynamics of the changes in the FAAs differed between VP and MAP beef throughout storage, which affected the BAs’ formation. From day 14 of storage, VP beef steaks had lower or significantly lower content of (p ≤ 0.05) FAAs such as histidine, lysine, ornithine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, and tyrosine, and significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher content of BAs such as histamine, cadaverine, putrescine, 2-phenylethylamine, tryptamine and tyramine compared to MAP beef. Based on BAI values, VP beef was spoiled on day 14, which was two weeks earlier than MAP beef, demonstrating that vacuum packaging promotes faster BA accumulation, due to the growth of Enterobacteriaceae under low-oxygen conditions. MAP provided more stable microbiological quality and lower BAI values of beef during storage than VP. No differences in shelf life between various MAP gas mixtures were observed; however MAP 80/20/0 slowed down the formation of biogenic amines, which was reflected by lower BAI values.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Polyamine Metabolism and Applications · Meat and Animal Product Quality · Advanced Chemical Sensor Technologies

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Department of Food Technology and Assessment, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—SGGW, 159C Nowoursynowska Street, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland

Department of Food Safety and Chemical Analysis, Prof. Waclaw Dąbrowski Institute of Agricultural and Food Biotechnology-State Research Institute, 36 Rakowiecka Street, 02-532 Warsaw, Poland

Department of Food Biotechnology and Food Microbiology, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—SGGW, 159C Nowoursynowska Street, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland

Funding

European Union from the European Regional Development Fund under the Regional Operational Programme of the Mazowieckie Voivodeship for 2014–2020

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