Food Safety through Natural Antimicrobials.

Microbial pathogens are the cause of many foodborne diseases after the ingestion of contaminated food. Several preservation methods have been developed to assure microbial food safety, as well as nutritional values and sensory characteristics of food. However, the demand for natural antimicrobial agents is increasing due to consumers' concern on health issues.

Effect of vacuum ageing on quality changes of lamb steaks from early fattening lambs during aerobic display.

The effects of vacuum ageing on the quality changes of lamb steaks during retail display were assessed. Biceps femoris and Quadriceps femoris muscles from thirty early fattening lambs fed barley straw and concentrate or alfalfa and concentrate were used. Half of the muscles were vacuum aged for three weeks (VA), and the other half were not aged (control).

Quality characteristics of a dry-cured lamb leg as affected by tumbling after dry-salting and processing time.

The aim of this study was to evaluate selected quality characteristics of a dry-cured lamb leg with different tumbling treatments after salting. The characteristics were measured at different processing times. Three batches of dry-cured lamb legs (nine legs per batch) were prepared with no-, short- and long-tumbling treatments, and microbial counts, NaCl, aw, proximate composition, pH, free fatty acids, water soluble nitrogen, volatile compounds, texture and colour were evaluated at days 1, 22 and 71 of processing.