Shelf Life of Vacuum‐ or Nitrogen‐Packed Pastrami: Effects of Packaging Atmospheres, Temperature and Duration of Storage on Microflora Changes

Numbers of lactobacilli, psychrotrophs and anaerobes in either vacuum‐ or nitrogen‐packed pastrami increased significantly as storage temperature was increased above ‐4°C or duration extended beyond 7 days at 0, 3 and 7°C. Few significant differences observed in their numbers were attributed to types of packaging but numbers of yeasts and molds decreased significantly in nitrogen‐packed samples, particularly at 7°C. Growth of coliforms to log 4.5 per gram occurred at 7°C in both packaging treatments. The initial psychrotrophs consisted of Brochothrix (51–54%), Lactobacillus (40–42%) and Pseudomonas spp. (6.6–9.0%) but Lactobacillus spp. represented 80–92% at 49 days.