title: Combined effect of oregano essential oil and modified atmosphere packaging on shelf-life extension of fresh chicken breast meat, stored at 4 degrees C.
abstract: The combined effect of oregano essential oil (0.1% and 1% w/w) and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) (30% CO2/70% N2 and 70% CO2/30% N2) on shelf-life extension of fresh chicken meat stored at 4 degrees C was investigated. The parameters that were monitored were: microbiological (TVC, Pseudomonas spp., lactic acid bacteria (LAB), yeasts, Brochothrix thermosphacta and Enterobacteriaceae), physico-chemical (pH, TBA, color) and sensory (odor and taste) attributes. Microbial populations were reduced by 1-5 log cfu/g for a given sampling day, with the more pronounced effect being achieved by the combination of MAP and oregano essential oil. TBA values for all treatments remained lower than 1 mg malondialdehyde (MDA) kg(-1) throughout the 25-day storage period. pH values varied between 6.4 (day 0) and 5.9 (day 25). The values of the color parameters L*, a* and b* were not considerably affected by oregano oil or by MAP. Finally, sensory analysis showed that oregano oil at a concentration of 1% imparted a very strong taste to the product for which reason these lots of samples were not scored. On the basis of sensory evaluation a shelf-life extension of breast chicken meat by ca. 3-4 days for samples containing 0.1% oregano oil, 2-3 days for samples under MAP and 5-6 days for samples under MAP containing 0.1% of oregano oil was attained. Thus oregano oil and MAP exhibited an additive preservation effect.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Food Chemistry and Food Microbiology, Department of Chemistry, University of Ioannina, Ioannina 45110, Greece.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chouliara
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karatapanis
authors.forename: I N
authors.initials: IN
authors.lastname: Savvaidis
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Kontominas
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000254:growth & development; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000378:metabolism; D002645:Chickens; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods; D005516:Food Microbiology; D018857:Food Packaging / Q000379:methods*; D005519:Food Preservation / Q000379:methods*; D005520:Food Preservatives / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology / Q000592:standards; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D009812:Odorants / Q000032:analysis; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000494:pharmacology*; D031341:Origanum / Q000737:chemistry; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism; D013649:Taste; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors; D014618:Vacuum
chemical_list: D005520:Food Preservatives; D009822:Oils, Volatile; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D009584:Nitrogen; D010100:Oxygen