Spoilage of Raw Meat
The spoilage flora in meat is determined by:
• Nutrient availability
• Oxygen availability
• Storage temperature
• pH
• Storage time of the product
• Generation time of the microorganisms present
To delay microbial spoilage, fresh meats are stored at refrigerated temperature (≤ 5 ◦C). In such an environment, psychrotrophs will dominate.
Microorganisms involved in this type of spoilage include:
• Pseudomonas
• Acinetobacter
• Moraxella
• Shewanella
• Alcaligenes
• Aeromonas
• Escherichia
• Enterobacter
• Serratia
• Hafnia
• Proteus
• Brochothrix
• Micrococcus
• Enterococcus
• Lactobacillus
• Leuconostoc
• Carnobacterium
• Clostridium
• Some yeasts and molds