Flavor, Bacterial and TBA Changes in Ground Turkey Patties Treated with Antioxidants

Turkey thighs (with skin) were ground, treated with two levels of each of 3 antioxidants and held at 3°C. up to 10 days. Flavor scores, bacterial numbers and TBA values were obtained. Flavor scores, as difference from reference samples, were moderately different at zero day and this difference increased only slightly during 10 days storage. Total and coliform counts were initially lowest in control samples, and coliform counts of the control samples remained considerably below antioxidant treated samples throughout storage. Bacterial numbers increased during storage, however, counts of up to 108 organisms per gram had little influence on panel flavor evaluations. TBA values were effectively controlled by all antioxidant treatments, but also appeared to have little relationship to panel flavor scores.