Comparative analysis of spoilage indices and physicochemical parameters in goat muscles stored under super-chilled, chilled, and frozen conditions

The present study investigates the spoilage indices and physicochemical parameters of Longissimus lumborum (LL) and Semitendinosus (ST) muscles of goats under super-chilling one degree Celsius (1 °C) conditions compared to refrigerated degree Celsius (4 °C) and frozen degree Celsius (-18 °C) samples over a seven-day post-mortem ageing period. Fifteen local bucks obtained from a commercial farm were used for the study. Results show that super-chilling and frozen storage methods significantly reduced microbial spoilage, and the structure of the bacterial community in goats’ muscles altered over an extended period, contrasting with meat stored under refrigerated conditions. Primarily, the dominant bacterial species identified in muscle samples of goats at the genus level were Pseudomonas, Myroides, and Brochothrix. Pseudomonas has been mainly identified as the bacterium responsible for spoilage under refrigerated conditions (36.23% for longissimus lumborum muscle and 25.45% for semitendinosus muscle). However, the relative abundance of Pseudomonas was significantly reduced in both frozen and super-chilled longissimus lumborum (9.334% and 8.229%, respectively) and semitendinosus (7.098% and 6.999%, respectively) muscle samples, and these results revealed that the low temperature effectively inhibited the growth of Pseudomonas. Muscle samples stored under super-chilled and frozen conditions recorded a slower lipid and protein oxidation rate following ageing. Super-chilling effectively reduced deterioration associated with ice crystal formation and enzyme-mediated changes, which are significantly different from freezing and refrigerated storage methods. The quality attributes of LL and ST were minimally impacted. Super-chilling is practical and can be used for storage as it ensures the quality preservation of meat.