Effects of Camu-Camu (Myrciaria dubia) Powder on the Physicochemical and Kinetic Parameters of Deteriorating Microorganisms and Salmonella enterica Subsp. enterica Serovar Typhimurium in Refrigerated Vacuum-Packed Ground Beef

This study aims to evaluate the effects of camu-camu powder (CCP), Amazonian berry fruit with documented bioactive properties, physicochemical meat parameters, and the growth kinetics parameters of S. enterica ser. Typhimurium, psychrotrophic bacteria (PSY), and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in vacuum-packed ground beef. Batches of ground beef were mixed with 0.0%, 2.0%, 3.5%, and 5.0% CCP (w/w), vacuum-packed as 10 g portions, and stored at 5 °C for 16 days. Centesimal composition analyses (only on the initial day), pH, TBARS, and color were quantified on storage days 1, 7, and 15, while PSY and LAB were counted on days 0, 3, 6, 9, 13, and 16. Another experiment was conducted with the same camu-camu doses by inoculating S. enterica ser. Typhimurium microbial kinetic curves were modeled by the Huang growth and Weibull decay models. CCP decreased TBARS in beef from 0.477 to 0.189 mg MDA·kg−1. No significant differences in meat pH between treated and control samples were observed on day 15. CCP addition caused color changes, with color a* value decreases (from 14.45 to 13.44) and color b* value increases (from 17.41 to 21.25), while color L* was not affected. Higher CCP doses caused progressive LAB growth inhibition from 0.596 to 0.349 log CFU·day−1 at 2.0% and 5.0% CCP, respectively. Similarly, PSY growth rates in the treated group were lower (0.79–0.91 log CFU·day−1) compared to the control (1.21 log CFU·day−1). CCP addition at any of the investigated doses produced a steeper S. enterica ser. Typhimurium inactivation during the first cold storage day, represented by Weibull’s concavity α shape parameter, ranged from 0.37 to 0.51, in contrast to 1.24 for the control. At the end of the experiment, however, S. enterica ser. Typhimurium counts in beef containing CCP were not significantly different (p < 0.05) from the control. Although CCP affects bacterial kinetics, it does not protect ground beef against spoilage bacteria and Salmonella to the same degree it does against lipid peroxidation.