The impact of PL technology on shelf-life, microbial reduction,
chemical and sensorial properties of raw pork roast, roast pork and
raw salmon has been investigated. PL treatments did not cause the
overheating of tested samples; therefore changes in the studied
quality parameters can be solely associated with the light-matter
interactions. None of the applied PL treatments was found effective in the inactivation of P. fluorescens as bacterial reduction
registered was of about 1 log (CFU g 1) for all tested samples. The
naturally occurring aerobic flora was found to be more susceptible
to the PL treatments. Exposure to PL fluencies of 10 and 30 J cm 2
resulted in the inactivation rates between 1 and 3.4 log CFU g 1 for
RPR and RP and therefore the microbial safety and shelf-life of pork
samples was reasonably improved. However, in the case of RS
samples only limited reduction of aerobic flora was achieved, and
the highest inactivation was of 0.8 log (CFU g 1) at PL fluence of
30 J cm 2. The highest reduction of aerobic flora was obtained at
the fluence of 30 J cm 2. However, the satisfying level of decontamination was accompanied by undesirable changes in sensory or
quality parameters. In the case of RPR and RP samples exposure to
30 J cm 2 resulted in colour alteration whereas for salmon e in
formation of the oxidationproducts. Our results have shown that PL
technology can constitute an interesting option for meat products
decontamination. However, more studies have to be conducted in
order to investigate the possible effects of PL on samples bioactivity,
nutritional and toxicological aspects