The present study was to investigate the effect of sugars on the psychrophillic spoilage in ground meat. The obtained results were summarized as follows:
1. The minimum pH values for the ground beef containing 2, 5 and 10 % glucose were 5.25, 5.15 and 4.5, respectively. For the ground pork, the respective values were 5.1, 4.45 and 4.1.
2. Total aerobes, coliform, lactic acid bacteria and lactobacillus counts per gram for the control and 2 % glucose-contained ground beef after 9 days for storage at 5℃ were 8.3 ×10^9 vs 6.0×10^7, 3.5×10^5 as 2.4×10^3, 5.8×10^7 vs 4.7×10^8 and 3.6×10^5 vs 4.2×106 respectively. For the ground pork, the respective values were 1.2×10^(10) vs 7.8×10^8, 3.4×10^5 vs 3.1×10^4, 5.5×10^7 vs 4.5×10^6 and 3.3×10^5 vs 3.7×10^5 The glucose-added ground meat showed higher counts than those of the controls only in the
case of lactobacillus without any apparent adverse effects.
3. The length of storage time until the depletion of added glucose was 12, 16 and 28 days for the 2, 5 and 10 % glucose contained ground beef and 9, 16 and 30 days for the ground pork, respectively. pH did not start to increase until the added glucose was depleted completely.
4. The addition of glucose extended significantly the average shelf-life of ground beef at refrigeration condition (5℃). The extended shelf-life over the control was 7, 9 and 12days for the 2, 5 and 10 % glucose contained ground beef and 8, 10 and 12 days for the respective ground porks.
5. Although the addition of disaccharides (maltose, lactose, saccharose) lowered the pH of ground meat, the extension of shelf-life as seen in glucose treatment was not affected. In fact, the higher the concentration of added disaccharides was, the greater the degree of putrefaction occured.
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