Quality attributes and shelf-life evaluation of goat meat with Indian curd extract, lactic acid, and nisin under refrigerated conditions

The quality and shelf life of raw goat meat (chevon) decline due to microbial and oxidative processes during storage. This study aimed to evaluate the storage stability of raw chevon treated with crude extract (CE) from Indian curd, lactic acid, and nisin at a refrigerated temperature of 4±1°C. Various batches of raw goat meat were analyzed: an untreated control (C), meat treated with a 2% (w/v) concentration of CE (T1), 0.5% lactic acid (T2), and 10 ppm nisin (T3). These samples were assessed for physico-chemical, microbial, and sensory characteristics under aerobic packaging conditions every other day for seven days. Results indicated that the pH, free fatty acids, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, and peroxide values were significantly higher (p<0.05) in the control group compared to the treated samples, with T1 exhibiting notably lower values. Throughout the storage period, the extract release volume and water activity (aw) decreased for all samples, but T1 maintained significantly higher values (p<0.05). Among the samples, T1 had the lowest bacterial count. On the first day, there were no significant differences (p>0.05) in color and odor scores between the control and treated samples, except T2, which had a lower color rating. Conversely, T1 received significantly higher sensory scores towards the end of the storage period (p<0.05). Overall, the findings suggest that CE from Indian curd is the most effective preservative in this study, extending the shelf-life of T1 to an acceptable limit of seven days, compared to five days for the control. This comparative analysis concludes that CE from Indian curd can be effectively utilized as a biopreservative to enhance the shelf life of raw goat meat.