The objective of this study was to determine the role of meat aging process on survival of male specific bacteriophage MS2 on meat. MS2 was used as a viral surrogate to study the impact of aging on enteric viruses on lamb meat. They were spiked at concentration of 10, 103, and 105 pfu on lamb chops sliced into cuts of meats at 10 × 10 × 1.5 cm3, and were stored at 4 °C for 14 days. Physicochemical characteristics such as pH, oxidation-reduction potential, water holding capacity and total count of mesophilic bacteria as well as MS2 were measured during the aging. The results indicated that the aging were not sufficient to completely inactivate all spiked MS2 on the lamb meat. However, physicochemical changes during muscle convert to meat significantly reduced MS2 survival (p < .05). The results also indicated that by increasing the spiked concentration of MS2, the survival rate of virus was significantly increased (p < .05).

Keywords