This work evaluate the effect of gamma radiation on reduction of the microbial contamination in chicken steaks stored under refrigeration. Microbial activity causes deterioration in poultry. Irradiation is a process of food preservation by reduction of the number of the microorganisms. The experimental design was in random blocks with 5 factors (storage periods) and 5 levels (radiation doses), with three replicates. The samples of chicken steak were irradiated with 0.0, 2.0, 4.0, 6.0 and 8.0kGy and stored under refrigeration (± 5ºC) for 1, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days. The total count of the microorganisms was accomplished by pour plate in PCA medium. The microbiological count of the non-irradiated samples increased in two logarithmic cycles during the storage period of twenty-eight days (from 10(5) to 10(7)CFU/g), while the microbiological count of the samples irradiated with 2.0kGy increased in one logarithmic cycle during the same period (from 10³ to 10(4)CFU/g). The doses of 4.0, 6.0 and 8.0kGy reduced the microbial contamination of the samples to levels of 10²CFU/g at the twenty-first and to 10¹CFU/g at the twenty-eighth day of storage. Gamma irradiation can be an efficient process to reduce the microbial contamination of chicken steaks because the dose of 4.0kGy was enough to keep the chicken steaks refrigerated with 10¹CFU/g for up to twenty-eight days.
gamma radiation; chicken steaks; microbial contamination
