Effect of Edible Chitosan Coating Containing Cinnamon Essential Oil on the Shelf Life of Silver Carp Fish Finger during Refrigerated Storage

This study aimed to investigate the effect of edible chitosan coating containing Cinnamomum verum essential oil onchemical and microbial properties of silver carp fish fingers during storage in refrigerator. Fish fingers were separately immersed in chitosan coating (2%), cinnamon essential oil (1.5%) and chitosan coating (2%) + cinnamon essential oil (1.5%) for 1 minute, then packed and stored in refrigerator (4°C). Chemical (pH, Peroxide value (PV), thiobarbituric acid (TBA) and total volatile base nitrogen (TVB-N)) and microbial parameters (total viable count (TVC) and psychrotrophic count (PTC)) were measured at 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 days. The results showed that with increasing storage time the pH, PV, TBA and TVB-N values increase significantly (P<0.05). The TVC and PTC counts of fish fingers increased significantly during refrigerated storage (P<0.05). Chemical and microbial indicators of chitosan coating (2%) + cinnamon essential oil (1.5%) treatment showed a little change in comparison with the other treatments during storage a significant difference with other treatments during storage (P<0.05). According to the results, it can be concluded that the fish fingers coated with chitosan coating (2%) + cinnamon essential oil (1.5%) have affected in compared to the other treatments and increased the shelf life of fish finger for 3 days.