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

Synopsis

Changes in the volatile constituents of raw chicken muscle resulting from aseptic autolysis and from the growth of micro‐organisms in pure culture at 1° C have been studied. Of 37 gas chromatographic peaks measured, 30 were tentatively identified and 14 confirmed by mass spectra. Ethanol was by far the largest individual component, accounting for 70–90 per cent of the total chromatogram area. Pigmented Pseudomonas and Pseudomonas putrefaciens both produced small and inconsistent changes, which were usually less than those resulting from autolysis. Small amounts of dimethyl sulphide resulted from the growth of Pseudomonas putrefaciens.