Chemical and organoleptic changes in poultry meat resulting from the growth of psychrophylic spoilage bacteria at 1° C

Synopsis

Changes in pH and in the free amino acid content of chicken breast and leg muscle inoculated with micro‐organisms in pure or mixed culture and stored at 1° C have been measured. Control experiments with aseptically prepared antibiotic‐treated samples separated the effects of autolysis from those attributable to the bacteria. A pigmented strain of Pseudomonas and Pseudomonas putrefaciens at counts up to 10⁸ organisms/g produced smaller effects than autolysis, but somewhat larger changes resulted from the growth to 10⁹/g of the pigmented Pseudomonas and, particularly, of a mixed culture of the two bacteria with three others normally present on chill‐stored chicken. The possible effects of these changes on flavour are discussed.