Study concerning the quality of poultry liver stored in refrigeration conditions

Abstract

The freshness state is one of the most important features when we talk about food quality. It is important t know when a food is fresh in the storeas well as at home. This is why we aim to study the stability over the time of the indicators defining the quality of the bird’s liver and the identification of the threshold in which the liver undergoing refrigeration process loses its freshness and passes to the stage of alteration. Thus, investigations were carried out on poultry liver packaged in polystyrene trays and stretch film and stored in a household refrigerator for 9 days at +3°C. In each day of storage, 5 packing units were opened from which samples were collected to assess the qualiative changes. The dynamic analysis of the pH of the analyzed liver highlighted slight increases in value that went along with the aging of the product. By correlating the values obtained with the maximum limit imposed by the existing legislation (25 mg NH3/100g), it can be observed that by the 6th day of storage, the average values of the ammomnium nitrogen content indicated a good product for consumption. The results obtained on the presence of hydrogen sulfide and the oxidation of fats, indicate that the chicken liver has maintained its freshness for 5 days of storage. The dynamic microbial load from the broiler chicken liver within the 9th day period shows a significant upward trend, both with respect the TNG and the number of germs from the genus Enterobacteriaceae, but variations in microbiological parameters fall within tolerance limits specified for them. Based on the determinations made and considering the limits imposed by the existing standards, we can see that the 5th day of storage is the maximum limit of the validation for the poultry liver