Abstract: To prepare a compound preservative for chilled pork, black pepper extract, prepared by soaking in 80% aqueous ethanol followed by reflux extraction, chitosan and glacial acetic acid were formulated to be mixed with water, and the effect of the compound preservative on total bacterial count in chilled pork was evaluated after 12 days of storage at 0－4 ℃. In order to minimize total bacterial count in chilled pork, response surface methodology based on quadratic general rotary unitized design were used to optimize the final concentrations of black pepper extract, chitosan and glacial acetic acid in aqueous solution. The compound preservative could dramatically inhibit microbial growth in pork during cold storage, and its optimal formula was 0.95% black pepper extract, 0.99% chitosan and 0.80% acetic acid, resulting in a total bacterial count of 5.2214 lg (CFU/g) after 12 days of storage.

Key words: black pepper extract, chilled pork, chitosan, acetic acid, preservation