Irradiation of refrigerated corned beef for shelf-life extension

The development of the microflora of unirradiated and irradiated cowed beef was followed during storage at 5 degree. The total aerobic counts in unirradiated corned beef samples reached x 107 cfu/g after 10 days and after 15, 20 , 25 and 30 days of cold storage in irradiated samples at 2, 4, 6, 8 kGy, respectively, accompanied with obvious organoleptic evidence of microbial. Radiation doses up to 8 kGy and cold storage (5 degree) of cowed beef had no effect on the major constituents (moisture, protein and lipids) of these products. During storage, total volatile bases nitrogen (TVBN) and thiobarbituric acid (TBA) values tended to increase; the Ph of corned beef fall down to ca. 5. 7. Increasing the radiation dose level to 6 and 8 kGy, to increase the product shelf-life, affects generally the physical properties of the corned beef samples, and therefore, it could be concluded that the radiation dose level should be chosen to inhibit public health concern bacteria and reduce spoilage organisms, and at the same time preserve the natural properties of the food. At the present study a dose level of 4 kGy was found to be quite enough to reach such requirements for corned beef samples