AUGMENTING QUALITY AND MICROBIAL SAFETY OF BROILER MEAT AT REFRIGERATION STORAGE BY APPLYING CHEMICAL INTERVENTIONS UBAID UR RAHMAN 1 , AMNA SAHAR 1,2,5 , IMRAN PASHA 1 , SAJJAD UR RAHMAN 3 , MUHAMMAD SOHAIB 4 , ANUM ISHAQ 1 , MUHAMMAD FARHAN JAHANGIR CHUGHTAI 1 and HASSAN ZAFAR 3 1 National Institute of Food Science and Technology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan 2 Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan 3 Institute of Microbiology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan 4 Institute of Home and Food Sciences, Government College University Faisalabad, Pakistan 5 Corresponding author. TEL: 1 92 332 6959611; EMAIL: amnasahar@gmail.com; amnasahar@uaf.edu.pk Received for Publication December 9, 2015 Accepted for Publication March 14, 2016 doi:10.1111/jfpp.13030 ABSTRACT The spoilage of meat may arise from several intrinsic and extrinsic factors includ- ing physical damage or chemical changes. It is well established fact that microbial activity is by far the most significant cause of meat deterioration. This study was conducted with the aim to investigate the role of chlorine (0.5, 1 and 1.5%), triso- dium phosphate (TSP, 5, 10 and 15%) and ascorbic acid (1, 2 and 3%) solutions in meat preservation. Quality parameters including color, texture, pH, TVB-N values and sensory attributes of meat were also analyzed during the storage period of 8 days at refrigeration temperature. Results showed that 15% TSP solution showed the minimum value of total plate count (2.09 log CFU/cm 2 ) which indi- cated its greater potential for surface decontamination of raw chicken as com- pared to the other treatments. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS The key objective of this study was to explore the potential of different antimicro- bial agents such as chlorinated water, trisodium phosphate and ascorbic acid for surface decontamination, quality attributes and sensory characteristics of raw poultry meat. Currently, poultry industry is looking for different antimicrobial solutions for online applications to curb microbial load of meat and meat prod- ucts during processing and preservation. This research work is important for developing countries because most of the meat is being sold in butcher’s shop under unhygienic conditions. Accordingly, the current project will help the meat professionals to improve the meat quality and to mitigate the microbial load through deploying different antimicrobial regimens. INTRODUCTION Fresh meat and meat products are widely used around the world. These are considered as highly perishable commod- ities and frequently subjected to a wide range of spoilage causing and pathogenic microorganisms. When a healthy animal is slaughtered in hygienic conditions, meat is thought to be sterile before skinning. On skinning, carcass is exposed to microbial contamination through various sour- ces like workers and processing environment (Bauman 1995). Moreover, animal sources like external skin, feet, hooves, fleece, gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts also contribute to increase microbial load in raw meat. About 30% of micro flora is introduced to carcass through skin, feathers, hides, hooves and hair of the animal. Furthermore, transportation over long distances results in gross microbial contamination on the surface of meat. Additionally, micro- organisms enter in deep tissues if contaminated slaughtering and processing equipment are used. The initial micro flora is considered as significant source of contaminating raw meat (Varnam and Evans 1991). This 1 Journal of Food Processing and Preservation 00 (2016) 00–00 V C 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Journal of Food Processing and Preservation ISSN 1745-4549