Studies on the antimicrobial effectiveness and public health safety of essential oils of spices in preservation of chicken meat patties

Abstract

In the first phase of investigation an attempt was made to determine the antimicrobial efficacy and public health safety of essential oils of garlic, clove and cinnamon on important bacterial pathogens in vitro and also their preservative effect in chicken meat patties at refrigerated (5±1°C) and ambient (32±1°C) temperature. The bacterial pathogens tested were sensitive to the essential oils of garlic, clove and cinnamon. Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli were most sensitive, while Listeria monocytogenes, Streptococcus pyogenes and Bacillus cereus were comparatively less sensitive. All the bacterial pathogens tested for minimum inhibitory concentration by agar diffusion assay were sensitive to the essential oils of spices. Campylobacter jejuni and Escherichia coli were most sensitive while Listeria monocytogenes was comparatively less sensitive. newlineIn the second phase of the study the chicken meat patties were standardized by binders at various levels. The results revealed that 10% soy flour and 15% corn flour formulations have lower cooking losses, better emulsion stability, higher water holding capacity and superior sensory characteristics compared to the control and other levels of those respective flour formulations. Based on the observations 15% level of corn flour was selected for preparation of chicken meat practice. newline newline