Comparative Effect of an Iron-based In-Pack Oxygen Scavenger on Lipid Oxidation, Proteolysis and Microbial Deterioration of Fresh Deboned Pork and Cooked Pork Nuggets Tray-Packaged in Food-Grade Polypropylene Trays under Refrigeration
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Active packaging using oxygen scavengers is an established strategy to improve the chilled shelf life of muscle foods, but quantitative data comparing its effect across product matrices in a common packaging system are limited. The present study compared the effect of a food-grade iron-based oxygen scavenger sachet (O-SORB U100, 2.5 g) on the oxidative, proteolytic and microbiological deterioration of two pork products with markedly different intrinsic properties - fresh deboned pork chunks (raw, intact muscle) and cooked emulsion-based pork nuggets - tray-packaged in food-grade polypropylene trays sealed with HDPE wrap and stored at 4±1 °C. The HDPE wrap film was selected based on its superior performance among four wrap films (LDPE, LLDPE, HDPE, PVC) screened in companion experiments. The oxygen scavenger reduced day-of-spoilage TBARS by 16 % in fresh chunks (HDPE pair, day 8) and 5-9 % in pork nuggets (HDPE pair, days 19-21), and reduced microbial counts by 0.45 log CFU/g in fresh chunks. In fresh chunks, the dominant deterioration mode was microbial; the scavenger lengthened shelf life by 3 days (from 5 to 8 days; +60 %). In pork nuggets, the dominant deterioration mode was oxidative; the scavenger lengthened shelf life by 4 days (from 19 to 23 days; +21 %). The HDPE-plus-iron-based-oxygen-scavenger system therefore represents a single, commercially scalable platform suitable for both raw and processed pork retail.
Language: English
Subfield: Animal Science and Zoology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7225433427