Effect of Peppermint Essential Oil and Ultrasonication on Microbiology Evaluation and Quality Parameters of Stored Chicken Meat

Nabeel Ashraf ¹ Zunaira Arshad ¹ Rokayya Sami ^2,3* Awatif M Almehmadi ⁴ Woroud A Alsanei ⁵ Ruqaiah I Bedaiwi ⁶ Roqayah H Kadi ⁷ Abeer A Abu-Zaid ³ Sami A Al-Dhumri ³ Suzan A Abushal ³ Mahmoud Helal ³

• ¹ Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan
• ² College of Science, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia
• ³ Taif University, Ta'if, Saudi Arabia
• ⁴ Umm al-Qura University, Mecca, Saudi Arabia
• ⁵ King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• ⁶ University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
• ⁷ Jeddah University, Jeddah, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

Chicken meat is a highly perishable food item that provides an ideal environment for microbial growth which affects the quality of the chicken meat in refrigeration conditions. The objective of this research was to determine the effect of peppermint essential oil (PEO) and ultrasonication (US) on the quality of chicken (broiler) meat. The 7 chicken meat samples (T 0 -T 6 ), in which T 0 is control sample and T 1 -T 6 samples treated with different PEO concentration (0.5% and 1%) and then subjecting them to US at 37 KHz frequency (2, 4, and 6 min) and power levels (600 W).Then it was vacuum packed in polyethylene bag at refrigerator temperature during 12 days of storage. Physicochemical analysis (TBARS, TVBN, pH, WHC) texture profile analysis (Cohesiveness, Hardness, Chewiness) and microbial analysis (TPC, E. coli, Salmonella, coliform) were assessed at 0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 days. When compared to untreated samples, all those who were treated exhibited a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in microbial count during storage.Ultrasonication application for 6 min with 1% peppermint oil showed significantly decrease the (TVBN and TBAR) and increase the (WHC and cooking yield) of chicken meat during storage.Results showed a significantly decreased in total plate count, Salmonella, Coliform and E.coli from (1.53-3.76 CFU/g), (1.21-1.99 CFU/g), (1.08-1.48 CFU/g), (1.95-2.99 CFU/g) compared to the untreated group (2.4-7.71 CFU/g), (3.56-5.61 CFU/g), (1.87-4.41CFU/g) and (4.47-7.23 CFU/g) respectively throughout a 12-day period of refrigeration (4 °C). The highest cooking yield was observed in T 6 (74.86%) and lowest in the control sample T 0 (72.45%) after 12 days of storage. These findings demonstrated that T6 sample showed a significantly enhanced the quality attributes of treated chicken meat samples. These results showed that PEO and US were natural and effective methods of meat preservation that ultimately benefits the meat industry in terms of product quality and safety improvement.