Changes in the Quality Attributes of Selected Long-Life Food at Four Different Temperatures over Prolonged Storage

• Published in: Foods
• Main Authors: Šopík, Tomáš, Lazárková, Zuzana, Salek, Richardos Nikolaos, Talár, Jaroslav, Purevdorj, Khatantuul, Buňková, Leona, Foltin, Pavel, Jančová, Petra, Novotný, Martin, Gál, Robert, Buňka, František
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI 2022
• Subjects: Article; Arctic
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9319022/; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35885247; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11142004

This study reports the development of selected indicators affecting changes in food quality and safety of selected long-life canned (Szeged goulash, canned chicken meat, pork pâté, canned tuna fish) and dehydrated (instant goulash soup) food during a two-year storage experiment at four different temperatures. The storage temperatures were selected to represent Arctic (−18 °C), temperate (5 °C), subtropical (25 °C) and tropical (40 °C) climatic zones where such food is likely to be stored during, for example, humanitarian and military missions. Microorganism amounts below the detection limit (p < 0.05), regardless of the storage temperature (p ≥ 0.05), were monitored in canned samples. The contents of dry matter, fat and proteins did not change during storage, regardless of the storage temperature (p ≥ 0.05). During the 24-month storage, all food showed an increase in the level of ammonia (p < 0.05) and the TBARS-value (p < 0.05), whereas the rate of increase in both parameters was significantly higher at higher storage temperatures (p < 0.05). The losses of individual amino acids during storage ranged from 5% rel. calculated on the amino acid contents in Month “0” up to 15% rel. (p < 0.05). With storage temperatures above the freezing point, the hardness values decreased with the increase in the storage temperature (p < 0.05) and prolongation of the storage period (p < 0.05). Moreover, with temperatures of −18 °C, the development of hardness, measured as the “decrease rate”, was significantly higher compared to the absolute values.