The Effects of Edible Coating, Echinacea Tea and Hawthorn Tea on Certain Microbial and Other Quality Parameters of Refrigerated Chicken Meat

Abstract

The purpose of the current study is to evaluate the effect of edible fruit and vegetable coatings, the echinacea and the hawthorn tea solutions, solely or in combination of increasing the shelf-life of chicken meat by the inhibition of the microbial flora at the refrigeration temperature (+4˚C), without disrupting certain chemical and physical properties. Eight different combinations of treatment groups were formed as follows: (E): echinacea tea, (E+M): echinacea tea-hawthorn tea combination, (E+S): Semperfresh®-echinacea tea combination, (E+M+S): Semperfresh® -echinacea tea-hawthorn tea combination, (M): hawthorn tea, (M+S): Semperfresh®-hawthorn tea combination; (S): the edible coating (Semperfresh®), including the control. The total mesophilic aerobic bacteria(TMAB), yeast-mold, Salmonella spp., E. coli and Staphylococcus species were determined. The pH, firmness, weight and total sugar content were analyzed. It was found that the sole hawthorn tea and triple combination of Echinacea tea-hawthorn tea-edible coating SemperfreshTM(E+H+S) showed significant inhibitory effects on the mesophilic aerobic bacteria (MAB), Staphylococci, Salmonella and Escherichia coli. Except for the Echinacea treatment group, the overall evaluation of taste panel showed a likeness of the remaining applications(p≤0.05). On the other hand, no significant effect was observed (p>0.05) on the pH, the firmness, the total sugar content and the weight of chicken meat among the groups. Different combinations, especially the triple combination was found to be successful on chicken thighs, due to the microbiological, chemical and physical findings. It can be inferred from the study that echinacea, hawthorn, and SemperfreshTM show a synergetic effect