The effect of thyme essential oil and vacuum packaging on shelf life of chicken breast meat

This study was aimed to evaluate antibacterial and antioxidant activity of thyme (Zataria multiflora) essential oil (EO) with vacuum-packaging on chicken breast meat to improve its shelf life and organoleptic properties. In this order, thyme EO was prepared at two concentrations of 0.1% and 0.3% (v/w) and added to chicken breast samples and then packed under vacuum conditions. Furthermore, two samples were considered without thyme EO which one is packed in a typical package contained air (control) and the other without air (under vacuum). All samples were stored at 4°C for 12 days and microbial properties (total bacterial count, psychrophilic bacteria, Escherichia coli and Salmonella), physicochemical properties (pH, thiobarbituric acid and colorimetric indices) and their sensory properties were evaluated at 0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 days. The results showed that the thyme EO reduces the total and psychrophilic bacterial counts, and this effect were significantly increased at the higher concentration of EO (P