Evaluation of Essential Oils as a Hurdle for Ambient Temperature Storage of Chicken Patties

Clove bud oil (CBO) and oleoresin rosemary (ORM) possess antioxidant and antibacterial properties and are widely used as natural preservatives in meat products. The present study was conducted with the objective of evaluating the essential oils CBO and ORM as a hurdle for extending the shelf life of chicken patties at ambient temperature storage.

The natural preservatives viz. CBO at 0.05% level (T₁) and ORM at 0.1% level (T₂) and their combination (CBO 0.05% with ORM 0.1%) (T₃) were incorporated in chicken meat patties in the basic formulation along with a control (C) and the cooked product quality packed in food grade pet-poly co-extruded film pouches stored at ambient temperature (30±2°C) was assessed.

Upon storage, in terms of sensory evaluation, T₃ spoiled on 5^th day and other samples on 3^rd day of storage. Addition of essential oils significantly (P<0.05) enhanced the DPPH scavenging effect. TBARS and tyrosine values of all treatments significantly (P<0.05) increased linearly with storage period. CBO and ORM combination significantly (P<0.05) inhibited the microbial load during the storage period and maintained the odour score in the acceptable level even at 3^rd day of storage. The combination of CBO and ORM might be applied as one of the hurdles in adopting the ‘Hurdle Technology’ storage of chicken meat patties.