Sterilization of livestock visceral meat by high pressure treatment

Abstract

In order produce raw livestock visceral meat that can be eaten safely, the sterilization conditions for these meats by high pressure treatment rather than by heat treatment were investigated. Cell numbers in the range 10 107 of Escherichia coli, Salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus were inoculated in bovine liver, MINO (bovine first stomach), SENMAI (bovine third stomach), SHIMACHO (bovine colon), chicken liver and chicken gizzard. After the meats had been treated for a specified time and pressure at room temperature, the remaining bacterial cells were counted using the official assay method. Even Staphylococcus aureus, which is the most resistant to pressure, was not detected after treatment repeated six times for 10 min under a pressure of 400 megapascal (MPa). In the case when bacterial cells were not inoculated, no bacterial cells were detected after treatment for 30 min under a pressure of 300 MPa. Assuming that pressure treatment results in higher safety than heat treatment, bovine liver, SENMAI, chicken liver and chicken gizzard were treated at high pressures of over 400 MPa, and the sensory evaluation (significant difference test at 5% significant level) of eating raw visceral meats before and after treatment was carried out. The treatment at 400 MPa resulted in a deterioration in the color, but did not affect the tenderness and tastiness of the meats. In the case of 500 MPa, a deterioration in the color, tenderness and tastiness of the meats was observed.