• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.2058-2071
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• 2015

A comparative study was conducted to evaluate precision and accuracy in controlling the temperature dependence of encapsulated microbial time-temperature integrators (TTIs) developed using two different emulsification techniques. Weissela cibaria CIFP 009 cells, immobilized within 2% Na-alginate gel microbeads using homogenization (5,000, 7,000, and 10,000 rpm) and Shirasu porous glass (SPG) membrane technologies (10 μm), were applied to microbial TTIs. The prepared micobeads were characterized with respect to their size, size distribution, shape and morphology, entrapment efficiency, and bead production yield. Additionally, fermentation process parameters including growth rate were investigated. The TTI responses (changes in pH and titratable acidity (TA)) were evaluated as a function of temperature (20℃, 25℃, and 30℃). In comparison with conventional methods, SPG membrane technology was able not only to produce highly uniform, small-sized beads with the narrowest size distribution, but also the bead production yield was found to be nearly 3.0 to 4.5 times higher. However, among the TTIs produced using the homogenization technique, poor linearity (R²) in terms of TA was observed for the 5,000 and 7,000 rpm treatments. Consequently, microbeads produced by the SPG membrane and by homogenization at 10,000 rpm were selected for adjusting the temperature dependence. The E_a values of TTIs containing 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 g microbeads, prepared by SPG membrane and conventional methods, were estimated to be 86.0, 83.5, and 76.6 kJ/mol, and 85.5, 73.5, and 62.2 kJ/mol, respectively. Therefore, microbial TTIs developed using SPG membrane technology are much more efficient in controlling temperature dependence.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.439-447
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• 2013

Time-temperature integrators (TTIs) are simple and cost-efficient tools which may be used to predict food quality. Enzymatic TTIs are devised to indicate food quality in the form of color alterations from green to red, based on the cumulative impacts of temperature and time period on the enzymatic reactions. In this study, the quality of ground beef patties was investigated for the parameters of pH levels, color, VBN, water holding capacity, and total microbial counts, depending on various storage temperatures (5, 15, and $25^{\circ}C$). TTIs were attached to the surface of the ground beef patties in order to evaluate the degree of correlating colorimetric changes with the determined quality parameters. Through the Arrhenius equation, activation energy and constant reaction rates of TTI, VBN, and total microbial counts were calculated as to observe the relationship between enzymatic reactions of the TTI and food spoilage reactions of the ground beef patties. VBN and total microbial counts were already increased to reach decomposition index (VBN: 20, total microbial count: 7-8 Log CFU/g) of meat at middle stage of storage period for each storage temperature. Although activation energy of TTI enzymatic reactions and food spoilage reactions of the ground beef patties were similar, the change of TTI color was not a coincidence for food spoilage at $5^{\circ}C$ and $15^{\circ}C$ of storage temperature. It was suggested that TTI should be designed individually for storage temperature, time, type of meat, or decomposition index of meat.