ABSTRACT
Sixty, seventy and ninety-day-old country cured hams were used to evaluate potassium sorbate as a fungistatic agent during aging and holding for market. A 1-min spray of 5% (w/v) potassium sorbate offered the lowest effective level for inhibition of fungal growth. Mold and yeast colony counts 30 days post-treatment were significantly lower than initial numbers but protection was lost by the 60th day under conditions conducive to fungal outgrowth (21 ± 5 C and 70 ± 5% relative humidity). Greater mold inhibition was noted when a 10% potassium sorbate spray was used under identical conditions. Less than 65% relative humidity inhibited mold growth on 120-day-old ham slices held at 7 C. Mold and yeast counts tended to be lower on hams treated after 60 days of processing than on hams treated after 90 days of processing. Residual concentrations of sorbic acid required to inhibit mold growth and yield an acceptable ham after 30 days storage were within the limit approved by the Food and Drug Administration for other food products.
ABSTRACT
Fresh poultry breasts were dipped in a solution containing either 0, 2.5, 5.0 or 10.0% potassium sorbate for 1 min. Another lot of fresh poultry breasts was dipped in a suspension of either 103 or 105 cells of three strains of Salmonella /ml before being dipped in one of the potassium sorbate solutions. Use of a potassium sorbate dip significantly reduced the total number of viable bacteria on the poultry parts when compared to the untreated control parts after 7 days of storage at 10 C and after 8 days at 6 C. Use of a 10.0% sorbate dip significantly reduced the total plate count as related to the total plate count of the control parts after 5 days of storage at 22 C. Application of a 10.0% sorbate dip resulted in a significantly lower Salmonella count than of the untreated parts after 7 days of storage at 10 C and a 5.0% or greater sorbate dip markedly reduced the growth rate of the Salmonella at 10 and 22 C when compared to the growth rate of the Salmonella on control parts.
