Antioxidant Effects of Chitosan Coating Containing Thymus fedtschenkoi Ronneger Essential Oil and Thymol on the Chicken Fillet During Refrigeration

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant effect of chitosan coating containing Thymus fedtschenkoi Ronniger essential oil (TFEO) and Thymol on chicken fillets under refrigerated conditions. The antioxidant power of prepared coating solutions containing TFEO (1%) and thymol (1%) and their efficacy on the quality of chicken meat during refrigeration (4 ºC) were evaluated using in-vitro techniques (DPPH scavenging and reducing power assays) and in-vivo methods (Determination of Peroxide value (PV), Thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS), Total carbonyl and Sensorial attributes), respectively. Antioxidant poverty of TFEO was higher than thymol in all concentrations. The results showed that an increasing level of PV, TBARS and carbonyls in the treated samples had a slower trend than in control samples (P ≤ 0.05). The best antioxidant effect was obtained for chitosan-coated samples containing TFEO 1%. The panelists with sensory attributes were significantly more satisfied with coated samples containing essential oil than the control samples. The chitosan coating containing TFEO 1% could be proposed as a new coating to protect food against oxidative changes.