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<OL> <LI> Evaluate garlic, rosemary, and vitamin E for antimicrobial effects, storage stability, and physical characteristics in goat meat stored at 4 degrees Celsius. This objective will be completed by February 2012. <LI>Test the effects of low-dose irradiation on microbiological quality and sensory characteristics of goat meat treated with garlic/rosemary/vitamin E mixtures and stored at 4 degrees Celsius. To be completed by June 2012. <LI>Disseminate the results to producers, processors, and consumers: Dissemination of results will be done through the Iowa State University extension infrastructures, UAPB Annual Rural Life Conference, the National Goat Meat Conference organized by the 1890 Universities, and through publications in extension magazines, and peer-reviewed journals.
Non-Technical Summary: <BR>This multidisciplinary joint project will evaluate innovative ways to improve shelf-life and microbial safety of chevon (goat meat) with minimal effect on physical and sensory characteristics of this healthy meat. In this regard, the best combination of proven natural plant antioxidant vitamin E and antimicrobials (garlic and rosemary)combined with low doses of irradiation will be applied to ground goat meat.Treated goat meat is likely to have less lipid oxidation and irradiation- induced sulfur off-flavors, extended retail shelf-life and enhanced microbial safety. These characteristics will reduce economic loss caused by microbial spoilage and widen consumer acceptance of chevon. Through this project, the School of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Human Sciences (SAFHS) at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff will , via instruction and practical teaching, provide students with concepts of texture analysis, irradiation, and sensory evaluation. Thus, graduates will be more marketable for government jobs in food safety and food quality. The sensory and food quality laboratories at UAPB will build capacity through addition of human capacity and acquisition of appropriate equipment. American consumers will benefit from enhanced shelf-life, microbial safety, good quality, and convenience. <P> Approach: <BR> Objective 1/. Vitamin E (?-tocopherol from vegetable oil, Type V) will be used at 0.0125 percent or 0.025 percent. Appropriate amounts of garlic and rosemary at 0.025% or 0.05% (w/w) will be added and the meat will be gently tumbled for 15 minutes at 18 rpm. Then, it will be ground through a 3-mm plate. Ground goat meat patties (about 100 g each) will be prepared by hand, and individually packaged in oxygen-barrier bags and stored for 12 days. Analyses will be performed every 3 days. Microbiological analyses: Duplicates of 25 g portions of meat will be transferred into separate sterile filter-lined stomacher bags. After homogenization, 0.1 ml aliquots of appropriate dilutions will be surface plated onto agar media. Meat homogenates pH will be measured using a standardized pH meter. For Aerobic and psychrotrophic counts, aliquots (0.1-ml) of appropriate dilutions of the goat meat homogenates will be surface-plated on duplicate 3M Petrifilm Aerobic Count plates. Plates will be incubated at 35 degrees Celsius for 48 hours and at 20 degrees Celsius for 96 h to determine viable numbers of aerobic mesophiles and psychrotrophs, respectively. Escherichia coli and viable counts of Staphylococcus aureus will be identified after incubation on 3M Petrifilm E. coli Count plates and Baird-Parker agar supplemented with egg yolk tellurite, respectively. Color: Color will be measured using a Labscan spectrophotometer (Hunter Associated Labs Inc., Reston, VA, USA) calibrated against white and black reference tiles covered with the same film as those used for meat samples. Lipid oxidation: 2-Thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) test will be used to evaluate lipid oxidation. Texture analysis: Texture analysis of non-cooked meat will be done in conjunction with color. Hardness of raw and cooked goat meat from each treatment will be evaluated using a Texture Analyzer (TA.XT2, Texture Technologies Corp., Scarsdale, NY). Objective 2/. Irradiation treatment: Goat meat treated with the best two garlic/rosemary/Vit E mixtures will be vacuum-packaged and shipped overnight in dry ice to the Sadex Corp. irradiation facility in Sioux City, Iowa. All packages of meat will be irradiated at two target average dose levels (0, 0.5, 1.5 kGy) using an electron beam accelerator (Titan Corp., San Diego, CA) with 10 MeV energy and 5.6 KW power level. The irradiated product will be stored in a walk-in refrigerator at 4 degrees Celsius for 28 days. At 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, and 28 days of storage, samples will be analyzed. Microbiological analysis, color, and texture measurements: as described in objective 1. Sensory evaluation: At least 80 panelists will evaluate cooked goat meat (10g). A 9 point hedonic scale from "dislike extremely" to "like extremely" will be used to measure the degree of liking using the Compusense-5 sensory analysis software (Compusense Inc., Guelph, Ontario, Canada). Off-odor will be anchored from "not detectable" to "intense". Flavor and Color will be evaluated as for off-flavor using a15-unit linear scale. Objective 3: Refer Goals/Objectives.