Evaluating microencapsulated oregano (Origanum vulgare) aqueous extract as a bioactive ingredient on the overall quality of ready-to-cook fish products made from tilapia byproduct during frozen storage

Abstract

This study evaluated the effect of microencapsulated oregano (Origanum vulgare) aqueous extract (MOAE) obtained on the overall quality of ready-to-cook (RTC) fish products made from mechanically separated tilapia meat (MSTM) stored at – 20 °C for 120 days. The treatments evaluated were control (CON; no additional ingredient), RTC+SE (RTC added of 0.5% sodium erythorbate - SE), RTC+OAE (RTC added of 0.5% oregano aqueous extract), RTC+MOAE (RTC added of 0.5% microencapsulated OAE) and RTC+MOAE1 (RTC added of 1% microencapsulated OAE). RTC+MOAE1 had improved aroma (from 7.50 to 7.90), good acceptance (7.40–7.90), and purchase intention (4.00–4.10). Moreover, RTC+SE showed an increase in lipid oxidation and resilience from 0.20 to 0.66 mg malondialdehyde (MDA)/kg and 0.11 to 0.28 ratio, respectively, while a decrease in a* values from 3.53 to 1.51 over the storage. In the RTC+MOAE1, these parameters varied from 0.27 to 0.75 mg MDA/kg, 0.10 to 0.22 ratio, and 2.53 to 1.25, respectively. Thus, MOAE at 1% was as effective or better than SE at 0.5% in preventing oxidative degradation of frozen stored RTC fish products.