Management of Microbiological Quality of Meat in the Context of Rapid Tenderization

This paper focuses on the study of the microbiological load of pork and beef meat, in the context of utilising fast methods of tenderizing them. The study highlights, through both classic and fast methods, the microbial load of fresh, salted and smoked pork and beef meat. It has been established that fresh pork is at around 7,2x10 -8,5x10 CFU/g, whereas fresh beef sits at around 2,3x10 CFU/g. For salted, smoked and classically tenderized, these values are between 3,3x104 CFU/g and 4,7x10 CFU/g for pork and 6,1x10 CFU/g for beef. The method of rapid tenderizing leads to highlighting a decreased microbial load: 2,2x10 CFU/g-5,4x10 CFU/g for pork, 2,8x10 CFU/g for beef, which constitute a huge advantage in the value and management of these products. From the point of view of contaminated pathogenic bacteria, the Vidas tests have shown their complete absence. As a conclusion, it can be said that fast methods of tenderization lead to a reduced development of microorganisms, which undoubtedly contributes to their microbiological quality.