Use of time-temperature integrators and predictive modeling to evaluate microbiological quality loss in poultry products

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to characterize the kinetics of the spoilage process of chicken drumsticks in order to evaluate the application of an enzyme process-based time-temperature integrator (TTI) as a continuous quality monitor of poultry products. Shelf life studies were conducted at several temperatures (3 to 20°C) to characterize (i) the poultry spoilage process as a function of total aerobic bacteria and Pseudomonas species populations and (ii) the TTI chroma response function. Two types of poultry products were examined: ice-packed and chill-packed drumsticks. An enzyme-based TTI with a color change response from green to yellow was used. Activation energies for each of the poultry products and each of the bacterial populations were as follows: 21.8 ± 1.6 kcal/mol (ca. 91.2 ± 6.7 kJ/mol) for ice-packed drumsticks and total aerobic population, 18.8 ± 4.5 kcal/mol ca. 78.7 ± 18.8 kJ/mol) for ice-packed drumsticks and Pseudomonas spp., 17.0 ± 2.3 kcal/mol (ca. 71.1 ± 9.6 kJ/mol) for chill-packed drumsticks and total aerobic population, and 14.1 ± 3.6 kcal/mol (ca. 59.0 ± 15.1 kJ/mol) for chill-packed drumsticks and Pseudomonas spp. The activation energy calculated for the TTI, 19.1 ± 1.8 kcal/mol (ca. 79.9 ± 7.5 kJ/mol), was determined to be adequately close to that of the poultry spoilage process to make effective quality predictions possible. Initial bacteria levels on the chicken drumsticks were uniform and not judged as important limiting factors in the application of TTIs to poultry products. Because the poultry spoilage process was reasonably characterized on the basis of Arrhenius kinetics, there is further need to conduct validation studies to determine the ability of TTIs to provide a continuous quality monitoring system.