A Simple Sensor System for Onsite Monitoring of O₂ in Vacuum-Packed Meats during the Shelf Life

Abstract

Vacuum packaging (VP) is used to reduce exposure of retail meat samples to ambient oxygen (O2) and preserve their quality. A simple sensor system produced from commercial components is described, which allows for non-destructive monitoring of the O2 concentration in VP raw meat samples. Disposable O2 sensor inserts were produced by spotting small aliquots of the cocktail of the Pt–benzoporphyrin dye and polystyrene in ethyl acetate onto pieces of a PVDF membrane and allowing them to air-dry. These sensor dots were placed on top of the beef cuts and vacuum-packed. A handheld reader, FirestinGO2, was used to read nondestructively the sensor phase shift signals (dphi°) and relate them to the O2 levels in packs (kPa or %). The system was validated under industrial settings at a meat processing plant to monitor O2 in VP meat over nine weeks of shelf life storage. The dphi° readings from individual batch-calibrated sensors were converted into the O2 concentration by applying the following calibration equation: O2 (%) = 0.034 * dphi°2 − 3.413 * dphi° + 85.02. In the VP meat samples, the O2 levels were seen to range between 0.12% and 0.27%, with the sensor dphi signals ranging from 44.03° to 56.02°. The DIY sensor system demonstrated ease of use on-site, fast measurement time, high sample throughput, low cost and flexibility.

Keywords

• phosphorescence-based oxygen sensor
• nondestructive oxygen measurement
• food packaging
• residual oxygen levels
• vacuum-packed meat