Antimicrobial effect of soy protein coating containing tarragon essential oil (Artemisia dracunculud L.) on chicken fillet kept at refrigerated temperature

Chicken meat is one of the most popular and perishable foods. One of the effective ways to increase the retention time of fresh chicken meat is the use of appropriate packaging coatings containing natural antimicrobial compounds. The aim of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial effect of soy protein coating containing tarragon essential oil on chicken meat stored in a refrigerator.Tarragon essential oil was extracted by water distillation method and its antimicrobial properties were tested on Staphylococcus aureus PTCC 1113, Salmonella enterica PTCC 1709, Escherichia coli PTCC 1399, and then the effect of concentration 0, 2 and 3% (vol / vol) soluble essential oil in soybean protein coating on these bacteria were studied. Finally, the antimicrobial effect of soy protein content containing tarragon essential oil on chicken fillets kept in the refrigerator was investigated and characteristics of the changes in its chemical and organoleptic properties were evaluated.The highest inhibitory concentration of essential oil was from Staphylococcus aureus, and the lowest was E.coli and Salmonella enterica. The total microbial count for the sample treated with 3% essential oil during the 12 days storage in the refrigerator was significantly lower than the control sample (P <0.05). The greatest effect of antimicrobial films after 12 days of storage in the refrigerator was on inoculated samples of Staphylococcus aureus. Protein film of 3% essential oil prevented the increase of pH and peroxide value during the storage period in the refrigerator. According to the sensory evaluation results, the film containing 2% essential oil obtained the highest overall acceptance rating. Although this property is reduced by the mixing of essential oil with film coating. The essential oil coating also has positive effects on the chemical and organoleptic properties of chicken fillet.