Microbiological Status of Ready to Eat (RTE) Bovine Tripe Rolls Under Different Storage Conditions

Abstract

Bovine tripe is a meat by-product known to favour microbial growth and can be incorporated in foodstuffs or used as a stand–alone food component. However, its utilization among sections of communities in Kenya has been limited due to inherent toughness and short-shelf-life which hinders its commercial applications. While, tripe can be the major source of microbial contamination, personnel hygiene and handling of equipment during production can be another potential source of contamination. This study was hence designed to find out the suitability and fitness for consumption of bovine tripe rolls produced from bovine tripe and stored at 4±1^◦C for 28 days under aerobic and vacuum packaging conditions. The products were developed by mechanical tenderization processes by mincing and blade tenderization then cooked till the middle temperature of 83 ± 1^◦C was attained and stored under different packaging conditions. The evaluation of the product for microbial quality was done using the standard analytical methods at intervals of 7 days for 28 days under refrigeration conditions. The results revealed an acceptable trend which indicated good hygienic handling of products during processing. The detected bacterial counts were in the ranges specified RTE meat products by Kenya bureau of Standards (KEBS) for the 28 days storage period of vacuum packaged products. However, the microbial counts in aerobically packaged products were significantly (p<0.05) higher than in vacuum packed products and slight off odours and slime appeared on 28^th day of storage. Listeria monocytogens, Campylobacter, Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp were all absent in both aerobic and vacuum packed products. The highest days means counts for total viable counts, clostridium perfringens, staphylococcus aureus, yeast and molds, psychrophilic counts and lactobacillus spp were 5.4 log₁₀ cfu/g, 1.7 log₁₀ cfu/g, 1.9 log₁₀ cfu/g, 4.1 log₁₀ cfu/g, 5.2 log₁₀ cfu/g, 2.1 log₁₀ cfu/g respectively in both packages. Therefore, bovine tripe rolls prepared by mechanical tenderization can best be stored for 28 days under vacuum packaging at 4±1^◦C and 21 days for aerobic packaging at the same temperature.

Keywords: Bovine tripe, mechanical tenderization, microbial contamination, pathogens