Abstract
This study was conducted to determine the effects of microperforated film on the quality and shelf-life improvements of pork bellies during cold storage. Samples were stored for 14 days at 0$\pm$1$^{\circ}C$ and 55$\pm$10% r.h.. The packaging treatments were the unpackaged sample as control, the wrapped sampled with microperforated polypropylene film(MPF) and unperforated PP film(PPF), respectively. After 10 days, the counts of all kinds of microorganisms investigated tended to be the lowest in the control samples, and followed by MPF and PPF. The 'a' value for PPF was significantly lower than the values for control and MPF at 14 day. The 'L' values for MPF measured after 10 days were significantly lower than those of PPF and higher than those for control. After 4 days of storage, the 'b' values for PPF showed significantly lower than those of MPF. As storage time elapsed, percent weight loss was the highest in the control samples followed by those from MPF and PPF. Sensory analyses showed that MPF samples tended to be evaluated higher in all parameters than the control and PPF samples after 7 days. It is concluded that microperforated film wrapping can be used efficiently for maintaining the quality of fresh pork bellies during cold storage and retail display.
