The Effect of Carboxymethyl Cellulose Film Containing Essential Oils of Cinnamon and Cloves on the Shelf Life of Refrigerated Beef

Fresh foods that have been subjected to least processing conditions have become quite popular. The application of edible films and biodegradable materials is a new method to maintain some food products. In this study the impact of different concentrations of essential oil of cinnamon and cloves (0, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 %) is employed on the film of carboxy methyl cellulose. The tests were concerned with coated meat on 0, 3rd, 6th, 9th and twelfth days. The samples coated with different films during this study were compared to the control. The coated samples showed lower pH, total volatile nitrogen, peroxide value, reactive thiobarbituric acid and total microbial count (p<0.05). The results indicated that the packed meat with carboxy methyl cellulose and different concentrations of cinnamon and cloves essential oils had effective results concerned with chemical spoilage of the product. The application of 0.3% of essential oil might be regarded as an optimum concentration for the essential oil.