Microbiota and sensorial attributes of buffalo meat stored under vacuum packaging: combined impact of marination, citrox and oregano essential oil

<p dir="ltr">The demand for marinated meat and natural antimicrobials has increased in the last decade. This study aimed to examine the antimicrobial and sensorial effects of natural citrox (0.2% v/w) and oregano essential oil (0.1% v/w) or their combination on marinated buffalo meat stored under vacuum at two storage conditions of 4°C and 12°C. In the control (without marinade), the population of all the spoilage microorganisms increased by 3.8–6.3 and 4.5–6.3 log cfu/g, at 4 and 12°C, respectively, during storage. On the last day of storage, at both 4 and 12°C, the spoilage microorganisms’ populations were lower for the marinated meat (without citrox and EO) by 1–2 log cfu/g (based on microorganism type) compared to its unmarinated counterpart. The combination of citrox and oregano essential oil (EO) resulted in decreases of 3.0–6.8 and 3.2–6.8 log cfu/g for mesophilic aerobic bacteria, Pseudomonas spp. lactic acid bacteria (LAB), Brochothrix thermosphacta, Enterobacteriaceae, and yeasts, at 4 and 12°C, respectively. The pH values of the treatments with citrox and oregano EO followed a steadily decreasing (P < .05) trend during storage. The recorded sensory data supported that meat marinated with those 2 natural antimicrobials led to a buffalo meat of acceptable quality. Marinade combined with citrox and oregano EO can provide a potential not previously studied solution for buffalo meat preservation.</p><h2>Other Information</h2><p dir="ltr">Published in: International Journal of Food Properties<br>License: <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank">http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</a><br>See article on publisher's website: <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10942912.2023.2238919" target="_blank">https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10942912.2023.2238919</a></p>