Title: Optimization of the Shelf Life of Lamb Forelegs Packed in different Multilayer Polymeric Materials and Modified Atmospheres

Biography:

She has completed his PhD at Extremadura University and Postdoctoral Studies at the KVL in Copenhagen. She is a Senior Professor at the Agricultural Engineering School in Extremadura (Spain). She has published more than 25 papers in reputed journals.               
 

Abstract

Lamb meat exports have increased during the latest years in Spain (MINECO, 2017). This fact leads to the necessity of using and improving preserving systems. Lamb forelegs were packed in three different gas mixtures (N₂: 70% N₂ - 30% CO₂; O₂: 70% O₂ - 30% CO₂; Ar: 70% Ar - 30% CO₂) and stored for 21 days. Shelf-life of lamb forelegs was studied. Red colour intensity (a*) was significantly reduced during the storage period (P < 0.05) from 16.4 to 11.5. The use of high amounts of oxygen (70 % O₂, O₂ treatment) promoted significantly higher values for a* in comparison with the rest of treatments (P < 0.05) accordingly with reports by Rubio et al. (2016) in lamb meat steaks. The effect of storage time did not turn out to be statistically significant (P > 0.05). O₂ treatment showed higher values of TBARs  (1.5 mg MDA Kg^-1) than the rest of the treatments, which is consistent with the highest O₂ content of this batch.  These results are in line with the values obtained by several authors (Gutiérrez et al., 2011; Rubio et al. 2016) in lamb meat cuts.The atmosphere treatment did not significant affect mesophile counts (P > 0.05, Table 6), which is consistent with the similar concentration of CO₂ in N₂, O₂ and Ar treatments. Lamb forelegs can be stored for up to 21 days in the conditions used in the current experiment since quality is maintained. A gas mixture consisting in 70% O₂ and 30% CO₂ is recommended, since lamb meat showed the reddest colour and oxidation levels were below the accepted limits.