The effect of gelatin films containing Pimpinella anisum essential oil on the microbial and chemical properties of minced beef

The use of films with natural origins and natural antimicrobial agents has become one of the novel methods of food packaging. In this study, the antibacterial activity of active films against two microorganisms, Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 65138) and Escherichia coli O157: H7 (ATCC 25922) were evaluated by disk diffusion method. Also, the antimicrobial properties of gelatin film containing different concentrations of Pimpinella anisum essential oil (0, 0.3, and 0.6 and 0.9%) were studied on minced beef at refrigerator temperature. The treatments were stored for 8 days after packaging and the microbial (total count of aerobic bacteria, psychrophilic bacteria, Pseudomonas spp., Enterobacteriaceae and mold/yeast), chemical (TVB-N and peroxide value) and sensory (color, odor, and taste) properties were examined. The main components of the essential oil were trans-anethole (87.39%), (Carvone8.79%), and Hexadecanoic (2.26%), Heptadecane1.56%). Results showed that all microbial and chemical properties related to treatments containing antimicrobial agents were significantly (p<0.05) less than the control treatment. Considering the acceptable microbial limit for minced beef at refrigerator temperature, the shelf-life of treatments wrapped with films containing essential oils increased by at least 3 days without any adverse without any unfavorable organoleptic properties.