Attachment of Psychrotrophic Meat Spoilage Bacteria to Muscle Surfaces

Attachment of psychrotrophic meat spoilage organisms to longissimus dorsi (1. dorsi) muscle placed in an attachment bath was studied. The numbers of bacteria (log10) attaching to 10.0 g of 1. dorsi muscle during a 20-min incubation period in the attachment bath ranged from 3.88 for Acinetobacter LD-2 to 5.66 for Pseudomonas fluorescens. The lowest attachment values were recorded with two non-motile bacteria, Acinetobacter LD-2 and Moraxella osloensis; the highest, with two motile fluorescent pseudomonads, Pseudomonas putida and P. fluorescens. Attachment strength values (S values) ranged from 0.19 for P. putida to 0.70 for Acinetobacter LD-2. In general, the non-motile bacteria possessed higher S-values than the motile organisms. When two different microorganisms were in contact with the 1. dorsi muscle in the attachment bath, minimal competition for attachment to the meat occurred.