Development of Allium based edible films for meat preservation

Abstract

Currently, most food packaging comes from oil, a non-renewable source, and represents a major environmental pollution problem. Food waste also represents another global problem. Beef is a nutritionally rich food, has economic importance and due to its chemical composition is very susceptible to microbiological deterioration, lipid oxidation, among other undesirable changes, resulting in a short shelf life when stored in refrigeration. One way to compensate the high use of natural resources involved in its production is to extend the shelf life of meat products, avoiding losses and waste, aiming to adopt a more sustainable circular bioeconomy. The objective of this project is to develop edible and biopolymeric films based on onion and garlic to increase the stability of frozen beef hamburgers and packaged fresh beef kept in refrigeration. The films will be developed using the casting method and characterized for mechanical properties (tensile), water vapor permeability, water solubility, opacity, UV light absorption capacity, volatile compounds, biodegradability and antimicrobial and antioxidant activity. The developed edible films will be applied to commercial hamburgers as primary packaging for a period of 6 months and will be analyzed every 30 days. The biopolymeric film will be applied to fresh beef and will be evaluated for one week, at 1, 4 and 7 days. The two products will be evaluated by the following analyses: pH, instrumental color, water retention capacity, weight loss during storage, loss and weight by cooking, lipid oxidation, volatile compounds, microbiological analysis and sensory acceptance. It is expected that the results obtained will contribute to the development of films suitable for use as primary packaging for frozen meat products and fresh beef, increasing meat products stability, reducing the amount of plastic packaging with less negative impact on the environment. (AU)