Antimicrobial efficacy study of celery powder, nitrites and NATPRE T10 in RTE meat strips in an accelerated shelf-life evaluation with Listeria monocytogenes

In the last decade, there has been continuous progress in evaluating ingredients for processed meats using natural ingredients designed to satisfy consumer preferences and microbiological standards for natural processed meats. Curing meat products is important not only for product quality but also for safety. Currently, nitrites are used to cure most meat products as well as celery powder, which also contains nitrites. A natural bacteriostatic alternative, Prosur NATPRE T-10 is currently applied to achieve similar curing characteristics in processed meats. Comparing the product quality is an important aspect of implementation into the meat industry as a curing alternative. This study was designed to assess the bacteriostatic capability of a novel, natural ingredient (Prosur NARPRE T-10) in RTE meat strips by studying its ability to prevent the outgrowth of Listeria monocytogenes without compromising its savory flavor compared to the use of nitrite and celery powder. All the samples were cooked and processed at the Texas Tech University Gordon W. Davis Meat Science laboratory. Cooked samples were cut into 2×2 cm bite-size for a standard triangle test; three sets of samples were established: celery vs. nitrites, celery vs. T10, and nitrites vs. T10. A total of 90 panelists were part of this study (30 per set). Beef strips treatments of 0.52% celery, 0.25% nitrites, or 1% Prosur NATPRE T10, and a negative control/uncured, were produced at Texas Tech. Strips were inoculated with a multi-strain mixed Listeria monocytogenes cocktail and incubated at a time temperature abuse of 32 °C. Samples were removed at 0, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours. It was found that Prosur NATPRE-T10 maintains an acceptable flavor outcome compared to strips treated with no detectable differences (p > 0.05) from a consumer panel. This product can be an acceptable alternative in terms of product quality compared to traditional curing methods. Based on the plate counts obtained from L. monocytogenes accelerated shelf-life study, the clean-label fruit and spice extract Prosur NATPRE T10 was successful at controlling the outgrowth of Listeria. The clean label of fruit and spice extract Prosur NATPRE T-10 was effective at controlling the outgrowth of the pathogen, making it a feasible curing replacement in RTE meats.