Solubility of Carbon Dioxide in Fat and Muscle Tissue

When meat is packed in atmospheres containing elevated carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) levels, substantial amounts of CO 2 are absorbed into the meat. Knowledge of CO 2 absorption into the meat is important to ensure optimal microbial protection of the meat and package design, preventing package collapse when the headspace is reduced because of CO 2 absorption. However, knowledge on fatty products is lacking. This study shows that there is a significant difference between the amounts of CO 2 that can be absorbed in meat with different fat content. The CO 2 absorption in fats has a rather complex temperature dependence that varies with fatty acid composition. The CO 2 absorption increases along with the increasing content of unsaturated fat, the effect growing larger as the temperature rises. In conclusion, the CO 2 solubility in meat samples varies with fat content, fatty acid composition as well as temperature. In this study CO 2 absorptions between 0.55 and 0.85 L CO 2 /kg meat were observed when varying these factors.