Evaluating red meat putrefaction in long term storage in freezing condition based on co-variation of major biogenic amines and total volatile nitrogen

Abstract

Nearly all of the rejected frozen carcasses in Asian countries are due to their high amount of total volatile nitrogen (TVN). The main aim of this study was evaluating red meat putrefaction based on putrescine and cadaverine content in red meat as major biogenic amines that contributed in TVN content during long-term storage in freezing condition. For this, 48 samples were collected from local slaughterhouse from neck, flank, sirloin and rib set of beef meat and analyzed for the biogenic amine and TVN content during 12 months storage in freezing condition. The results showed no sensible organoleptic changes but the amount of cadaverin and putrescine had highly-significant (p < 0.05) and no significant (p > 0.05) changes after fifth month of storage, respectively. The mean concentration of putrescine and cadaverine were increased from zero up to 118.98 and 1121.48 µg/gr after five months storage, respectively. Increasing the cadaverine content might be a good index for red meat deterioration and used as quality index after long time storage in freezing condition.