Spices and plant components are being
used more often in food products as natural
antimicrobials. Dried plums are effective antimicrobials against foodborne pathogens including Escherichia coli O157:H7. The objective of this experiment was to determine the ability of dried plum mixtures to increase the shelf life of ground beef at refrigeration temperatures. Ground beef (80% lean) was mixed with 6% dried plum mixtures and stored at 45°F. Ground meat containing any of the seven dried plum mixtures remained at the initial total aerobic count of 6 log CFU/gram after 13 days compared to 8.5 log CFU/gram at 13 days for controls (without dried plum).
