The effect of vacuum packaging and gaseous atmosphere on microbial growth in tripe.

Changes in bacterial flora of tripe samples, stored at 4°C in air, vacuum packaged or in a CO(2)-enriched atmosphere were studied. Aerobic plate counts showed a rapid increase in samples stored in air reaching a level of 1·6 × 10(9)/g from an initial level of 9·0 × 10(3)/g. The aerobic bacterial population inhibited in both vacuum packed and CO(2)-enriched atmosphere storage. The shelf lives of samples stored in air, under vacuum packaging or in gas mixtures, were 4, 8 and 9 days, respectively. Enterobacteriaceae and anaerobic counts tended to be higher under vacuum storage than in a CO(2)-enriched atmosphere. The numbers of lactic acid-producing bacteria were generally found to be lower under vacuum storage than in gas mixtures.