Anti- Staphylococcus aureus activity of some essential oils and their impacts on physicochemical properties of chilled minced meat

Abstract

Raw minced beef is one of the most used meat products and exposing to microbial contamination as well. So, improving its preservation techniques is highly recommended, especially with raising of microbial multidrug resistance worldwide. The recent study aimed to evaluate impacts of olive and garlic essential oils on the physicochemical and S. aureus multiplication in chilled minced beef along nine days of refrigeration. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of oils was determined using disc diffusion technique. Results revealed higher inhibitory effect of garlic oil than olive oil on S. aureus, combination of olive and garlic (GOC) treated samples showed significant synergistic effect appeared as wider zone of inhibition and higher enhancement effects on the physicochemical and bacterial quality of the treated chilled minced meat. Although, the treated samples were sensory acceptable at the 9^th day, when the control group showed spoilage characteristics; they, all, showed signs of spoilage in various degrees at the 12^th day of storage. In addition, results of pH, TBA and TVN were 6.3, 0.82 and 18.7; 6.2, 0.79 and 18.3; 6.0, 0.75 and 17.5 for the olive oil (1.5%), garlic oil (1.0%) and GOC treated groups at the 9^th day of storage, respectively. On the other hand, significant retardation in the S. aureus growth was observed in all the treated samples revealing that the used oils a promising and recommended meat additive of significant preservation characteristic on the meat safety and quality.