High pressure processing combined with marinade solutions has
proven to be an efficient means to preserve meat products. High pressure
treatments made possible to obtain a safe meat product for up to
14 days with reduced salt content when using, for example, 600 MPa
for 5 min. By using 450 MPa the effectiveness of the approach was
also demonstrated for both tested microorganisms. Reducing salt content
from 2% to 1% is quite significant taking into account new guidelines
on recommended salt content in food products.
The counts on the control sample were significantly high. Therefore,
the hypothesis of the present work was proven.
The lowest pressure applied (300 MPa) was able to reach 6 log cycles
reduction for L. innocua only when HSHA solution was used, treatments
with low sodium content need higher pressures to ensure its safety.for E. faecium 300 MPa caused only 1 log cycle reduction in treatments with
high salt content.
In addition, the use of citric acid helped to prevent oxidation in the
samples even when the higher pressures (i.e. 600 MPa) were applied.
The results showed the possibility of producing reduced salt meat
products without compromising their main attributes, and thus, promoting
the intake of healthier products. In terms of microbiological
safety, we recommend the use of 600 MPa, however, good results
were also found by using 450 MPa with this same solution.