Evaluation of Chemical and Microbial Spoilage of Chicken Fillet Coated with Chitosan, Ginger Essential Oil (Zingiber officinale) and Medlar concentrate (Mespilus germanica L.) during refrigerated storage

Lipid oxidation and microbial growth are the most important factors affecting the quality and Spoilage of the meat in refrigerated storage conditions. In this study, the effect of using chitosan, Medlar concentrate, ginger essential oil alone and in combination with each other on improving the quality and shelf life of chicken meat kept in the refrigerator was investigated.8 groups in this study during 12 days were stored at refrigerator and Microbial (aerobic mesophilic & Psychotrophic Plate count) and chemical (PV, TBA, TVB-N) and. sensory parameters were measured at days 0, 4, 8 and 12. Total phenol and reducing power tests were also performed to evaluate the antioxidant properties .Based on the results of GC/MS, the major compounds of ginger essential oil were α-Zingiberene (36.54%), b-Sesquiphellandrene (16.45%) and trans-γ-Cadinene (10.27%) were formed. The results of this study showed that the chitosan-coated treatment containing 2% ginger essential oil and medlar concentrate, decreased the microbial parameters significantly (P<0.05) as compared to control group during the storage period (P<0.05).the oxidation indices of chicken meat samples had significantly fewer changes (P<0.05), had the strongest antioxidant and sensory effect on other groups during storage. The results of microbiological, chemical and sensory analysis of this study showed that the effect of chitosan coating containing 2%ginger essential oil and medlar concentrate was effective in increasing the shelf life and quality of chicken meat for 12 days during storage in the refrigerated condition.