Shraddha A Bhoira1*, Sonit Kumarib2
The present study evaluated the usability of chitosan and gelatin (Ch-Gel) films incorporated with green tea extract (GTE) to improve the shelf life of the chicken meat stored in chilled condition. The incorporation of GTE improved the mean tensile strength of the films from 5.26 MPa to 11.38 MPa. The ChGel films possessed antimicrobial activity and inactivated approximately 3 log cfu/ ml of K. pneumoniae, S. typhi var. Weltevreden, S. typhi var. Oslo, Y. enterocolitica, E. feacalis, B. cereus, E. coli and S. aureus. Meat samples without films were observed to be microbiologically safe for not more than 6 days, while ChGel and ChGel-GTE films improved the microbial safety of chicken samples till day 13. During chilled storage, ChGel-GTE films also prevented lipid peroxidation in samples as evident by TBARS value (day 10: control: 1.14; ChGel-GTE: 0.21 mg MDA eq/kg) and protein oxidation by inhibiting protein carbonylation, loss of free thiols groups in protein and lowering the number of disulphde bonds. This study supports use of ChGel films with GTE for enhancing the safety of stored chicken meat not only by maintaining the microbial quality of the samples but also by preventing oxidative changes that can hamper the functional, nutritional and sensorial properties.
