Leading Ways to Increase the Shelf Life of Meat Products

Abstract

Our paper focuses on the leading ways of storing shelf products as a means of prolonging their shelf life for increasing business profits and gains. We describe how a biosoluble antibacterial film for meat semi-finished products can be used just for these purposes. In the formulation of the film, agar was used as a structurant, plasticizer—trihydric alcohol—glycerol, universal solvent—distilled water. The biologically active components in the form of metabolites of bifidobacteria and lactobacilli, enclosed in a suspended solution of Euflorin-Plus, are introduced into the basic formulation of the film, as an antimicrobial drug—class 1 bacteriocin (lowlands). A technology has been developed for the production of a film that includes the following stages: heating distilled water, introducing glycerin with continuous stirring at 100–500 rev/min for 10 min at a temperature of 75 °C, cooling the solution to a temperature of 60 °C, adding the probiotic preparation Euflorin—Plus or nisin bacteriocin to the cooled solution, homogenizing the solution for 5 min at a temperature of 60 °C in the “stirring” mode (100–500 rpm), pouring the cooled solution into molds, temperature control, and cooling. The organoleptic, structural-mechanical, and physicochemical properties of the film, and the degree of water absorption were studied, which indicates the biodegradability of film materials. Our results show that the organoleptic and microbiological indicators of chilled meat semi-finished products packed in biosoluble films using nisin comply with the requirements of regulatory documentation after 10 days of storage. Consequently, the use of nisin in the formulation of the film allows to increase the shelf life of meat cooled and packed in a biosoluble film. All together these steps constitute a leading technology that might make considerable impacts on the food sector.