Effect of pretreatment with carbon monoxide and ozone on the quality of vacuum packaged beef meats

Beef meats without pretreatment (CK) or pretreated with different volume ratios of carbon monoxide and ozone of 100%CO (T1), 2%O3 + 98%CO (T2), 5%O3 + 95%CO (T3) and 10%O3 + 90%CO (T4) using modified atmosphere packages for 1.5 h, after that they were vacuum-packaged and stored in 0 °C refrigerator for 46 days. The surface color a* values and sensory scores of T1, T2, T3 and T4 were significant higher than CK (p < 0.05) during storage. In the mid and later storage, the drip loss, total viable counts (TVC), metmyoglobin (met-Mb), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) and pH of T1, T2, T3 and T4 were significantly lower than CK (p < 0.05), and these values of T2, T3 and T4 were significantly lower than T1 in the later storage. In conclusion, O3 in the combination didn't affect the color-developing effect of CO, and could help CO maintain the meat quality. Therefore, the pretreatment of CO combined with O3 at certain concentrations can be a promising technique to maintain the quality of beef meats.