Effect of using different packaging techniques on the some quality characteristics of chicken pastirma

In this research, the effects of packaging method (aerobic packaging (AP), vacuum packaging (VP) or modified atmosphere packaging (MAP)) and storage time (0, 15, 30 or 60 days) on the chemical, microbiological and sensor properties of a chicken pastirma were investigated. The chicken pastirma samples were evaluated for changes in typical shelf-life characteristics consisting of pH, moisture, free fatty acids, thiobarbituric acid value, color properties (L*, a*, b* ), volatile compounds (hexanal, octanal, nonanal, pentanal, decanal) and microbial counts (Mesophilic aerobic bacterial counts, lactic acid bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, Yeast and molds).The TBA values which indicate the lipid oxidation of all samples were increased. In the view of lipid oxidation, the modified atmosphere packaged samples will have the longest shelf life. Chicken pastirmas free fatty acid (FFA) values increased during the storage and the lowest value was observed in sample MAP packaged with 0,60 oleic acid/100g fat (p<0.01).The intense colour of chicken pastirma aerobic packaging resulted in samples with lower L*, a* values, and higher b* values. The a* (redness) values of chicken pastirmas indicated a decrease during the storage periods and while the lowest value was observed in aerobic packaging with 5.20, the highest values 5.95 and 6.09 were seen in vacuum packaged and modified atmosphere packaged samples respectively (p<0.01).Lower total mesophilic aeobic bacteria, and lactic acid bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, yeast and molds was observed in MAP samples which contained 65% nitrogen and 35% carbon dioxide (p<0.01). Therefore, from a microbiological point of view, modified atmosphere packaging is more effective in extending the shelf-life of chicken pastirmas.The MAP packaging significantly (P<0.01) reduced the total amount of lipid-derived volatiles (hexanal, octanal, nonanal, pentanal, decanal) isolated from chicken pastirmas. Over the storage time, the hexanal content increased, MAP the lowest increase (from 19 log area to 42.75 log area). The sensory properties of AP samples were less acceptable than the samples packed under vacuum and under MAP at 60 days of storage.