<![CDATA[The aim of this study was to determine the microbiological parameters of meatballs prepared with beef skin gelatin extracted with pineapple peel after various storage periods. A laboratory approach to experiments and descriptive analysis were used. Beef skin was pretreated with pineapple peel extract for 12, 24, 30 and 40 hours before the gelatin extraction. The gelatin produced was subjected to Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and amino acid analysis which were used to characterize it, and then used in meatball products. The meatballs were kept for 14 and 21 days at 10°C and then microbiological tests were conducted to assess Total Plate Count (TPC), Gram staining and biochemical tests. The FTIR analysis showed amide characteristic functional groups that are associated with the formation of gelatin, and the amino acid profiling also showed that glycine and proline are the main components. Bacterial count was higher with the longer storage time for all pretreatment groups as revealed by the TPC results. The 24-hour pretreatment group had the lowest count of bacteria after 14 days (4.4 × 10⁴) and the lowest count after 21 days (100 × 10⁵) was recorded in the 30-hour pretreatment group. Microbiological examination showed Gram-negative bacteria (Neisseria sp. and Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus). The results showed that meatballs with pineapple peel extract-pretreated beef skin gelatin were still detectable microbial contamination during a long storage period. Further controlled investigations are needed to establish its antimicrobial effectiveness.]]>
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