But University of Otago microbiology and immunology researchers Dr Daniel Pletzer and Dr Sam Wardell plan to grill a steak or two this week, to celebrate winning $1 million of Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) Smart Ideas funding for their research into controlling red meat spoilage.
Dr Pletzer said New Zealand’s red meat industry generated annual revenue of $10.8 billion, constituting about 15% of the country’s total export earnings.
The vital sector also employed more than 25,000 people, typically in rural areas.
However, the meat industry had reported up to 1% of its export product was returned or rejected due to spoilage or contamination issues, which amounted to financial losses of tens of millions of dollars each year.
The main reason for product spoilage was bacterial contamination, Dr Pletzer said.
"Bacterial growth, and the production of extracellular materials as they form a complex community, is called a biofilm which coats the surface of the meat, leading to odours.
"This contaminated product cannot be exported to international markets due to the presence of bacterial pathogens."
Their research on beef and lamb would leverage the animals’ innate defences — so-called host defence peptide molecules (HDPs) — to attack the bacteria responsible for meat becoming spoiled or rejected, Dr Pletzer said.
"HDPs are part of the immune system in animals and have recently been shown to have the ability to kill bacteria, including those within biofilms.
"We will identify novel bovine and ovine HDPs, assessing the activity of these ‘natural’ compounds against spoilage and pathogenic bacteria, with the goal of developing an HDP-based spray product for commercial use."
Dr Pletzer said the spray would be harmless to humans, and would be sprayed on meat products at meatworks, as well as preparation surfaces such as tables, saws and knives.
It was still too early to say how much the spray would increase the shelf life of meat products.
He said the researchers had teamed up with meat industry experts at the Alliance Group, which would provide guidance and be involved with in-plant implementation of HDP-based mitigation strategies.
"The development of a next-generation natural bacterial control strategy will help to future-proof the red meat industry and enhance its competitiveness and sustainability globally."
The $1 million grant is one of eight given to University of Otago research projects by MBIE in the latest Endeavour Fund investment round.
Other recipients were: Associate Prof Sherlock Licorish (Automating software violation detection and repair: future-proofing software reputation and skills development); Prof Chris Hepburn (Extracting value from an invasive seaweed using applied ecophysiology and green solvents); Prof Sarah Hook (Triggerable responsive antibiotic prodrugs [TRAPDs] as a platform technology for sustainable agriculture); Dr Simon Jackson (Computational design of enzyme inhibitors to engineer bacteriophage-based precision antimicrobials); Prof Peter Mace (Tuning protein degradation for next-generation plant productivity); Dr Matthew de Roe (Development of a multidimensional, fine-scale mapping toolkit for adaptive fisheries management); and Dr Htin Aung and Associate Prof Michael Knapp (A rapid, point-of-need diagnostic test for infectious diseases in livestock).
