Note: Shelf Life Determination of Korean Seasoned Side Dishes

Abstract

Three Korean side dishes of seasoned beef soup, soybean sprouts and fried tofu were stored at 0, 3 and 10 C. Changes in sensory, physical and chemical indexes were compared with microbial quality deterioration for shelf life determination. For beef soup, shelf life, based on a microbial quality limit of 10 6 cfu/g, was comparable to that obtained from sensory quality. The primary quality factor criterion for seasoned soybean sprouts determining shelf life varied with storage temperature. For seasoned tofu, shelf life estimates based on a microbial criterion of 10 6 cfu/g represented a more conservative estimate than those based on sensory quality at 3 and 10 C. Microbial quality was generally to be a common and sensitive criterion for shelf life determination, thus a microbial growth model was used to estimate shelf life at different temperatures.