Combined UV-C Technologies to Improve Safety and Quality of Fish and Meat Products: A Systematic Review

This study aimed to identify the best UV-C combined treatments for ensuring the safety and quality of fish and meat products. A total of 4592 articles were screened in the relevant databases, and 16 were eligible studies. For fish, the most effective treatments to reduce Gram-negative and Gram-posit...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Maria Lúcia Guerra Monteiro, Yhan da Silva Mutz, Karen de Abreu Francisco, Denes Kaic Alves do Rosário, Carlos Adam Conte-Junior
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-05-01
Series:Foods
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/12/10/1961
Description
Summary:This study aimed to identify the best UV-C combined treatments for ensuring the safety and quality of fish and meat products. A total of 4592 articles were screened in the relevant databases, and 16 were eligible studies. For fish, the most effective treatments to reduce Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria were UV-C at 0.5 J/cm<sup>2</sup> + non-thermal atmospheric plasma (NTAP) for 8 min (33.83%) and 1% Verdad N6 + 0.05 J/cm<sup>2</sup> + vacuum packaging (25.81%), respectively. An oxygen absorber with 0.102 J/cm<sup>2</sup> was the best combined treatment, reducing lipid oxidation (65.59%), protein oxidation (48.95), color (ΔE = 4.51), and hardness changes (18.61%), in addition to a shelf-life extension of at least 2 days. For meat products, Gram-negative bacteria were more reduced by nir-infrared heating (NIR-H; 200.36 µW/cm<sup>2</sup>/nm) combined with 0.13 J/cm<sup>2</sup> (70.82%) and 0.11 J/cm<sup>2</sup> (52.09%). While Gram-positive bacteria by 0.13 J/cm<sup>2</sup> with NIR-H (200.36 µW/cm<sup>2</sup>/nm), 1, 2, or 4 J/cm<sup>2</sup> with flash pasteurization (FP) during 1.5 or 3 s, and 2 J/cm<sup>2</sup> with FP for 0.75 s (58.89–67.77%). LAE (5%) + 0.5 J/cm<sup>2</sup> was promising for maintaining color and texture. UV-C combined technologies seem to be a cost-effective alternative to ensure safety with little to no quality changes in fish and meat products.
ISSN:2304-8158