THE USE OF CO2 IN PACKAGING OF FRESH RED MEATS AND ITS EFFECT ON CHEMICAL QUALITY CHANGES IN THE MEAT: A REVIEW

The antimicrobial effect of carbon dioxide (CO₂) is well documented but comparison of the large number of often contradictory studies investigating the effect of CO₂ on chemical quality changes is lacking. The amount of absorbed CO₂ varies from 0 - 1.79 L CO₂/kg meat depending on the applied packaging and storage conditions, which clearly demonstrates the necessity of optimizing these conditions with respect to the required amount of CO₂. Absorption of large amounts of CO₂ in meat tissue can cause a minor decrease in pH due to the dissociation of the produced carbonic acid to bicarbonate and hydrogen ions. A decrease in pH might affect other chemical quality parameters but this is not observed to be the case in the reviewed studies and general detrimental effects of CO₂ cannot be found for color, weight loss or lipid oxidation. However, elevated CO₂ levels can cause pore formation in cooked meat.