Packaging Alters Fresh Chicken Characteristics and Volatile Profiles During Refrigerated Storage

Vacuum-based packaging is less frequently applied to poultry at the retail level. Evaluating the impact of vacuum packaging on fresh poultry may elicit extensions to storage life and reduce spoilage for consumer products such as fresh chicken. Boneless-skinless chicken breasts (N = 315; 105/treatment) were packaged using polyvinyl chloride (PVC) overwrap, vacuum packaging (VP), or vacuum skin packaging (VSP) and stored in simulated retail conditions for 20 days. Packages of fresh chicken were measured for changes in surface color, odor, pH, microbial growth, lipid oxidation, and volatile compounds. Packaging treatment significantly influenced surface color, with VP samples appearing lighter (<i>p</i> < 0.0001) and less red (<i>p</i> < 0.0001) than chicken packaged using PVC. Odor scores increased as storage time increased (<i>p</i> < 0.0001), and VSP maintained the most favorable odor throughout the 20-day refrigerated display. Lipid oxidation was greatest in PVC (<i>p</i> = 0.0338) packages on day 5 and lowest for VSP chicken packages on day 15. Electronic nose (e-nose) analysis concluded that packaging can influence aldehydes (<i>p</i> = 0.0025), alkanes (<i>p</i> = 0.0143), and terpene (<i>p</i> = 0.0214), compounds which have been associated with off-odors. In addition, microbial counts increased during storage time across all packaging types (<i>p</i> < 0.0001) but did not exceed a spoilage threshold of 7-log CFU/g throughout the 20 days of storage. The results conclude that vacuum-based packaging methods, either VP or VSP, can improve storage duration meat quality characteristics during refrigerated storage, and volatile e-nose compounds may be linked to the development of off-odors.