Investigation of sensory, chemical and microbiological effects of natural antioxidant obtained from aromatic plants on fish fillets

In this study, natural antioxidants from rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) and sage tea (Salvia officinalis) were produced using solvent extraction method. The effect of the natural antioxidant on sensory, chemical (TVB-N, TBA, PV, FFA, fatty acids) and microbiological (TVC and total coliform count) changes of vacuum packaged sardine (Sardina pilchardus) fillets stored at 4oC were investigated. The main constituents of rosemary were 5.4% ß-pinene, 68.83% 1,8- cineol, 4.7% camphor, 5.28% borneol and 5.02% ?-terpineol, while sage tea was found to have 77.56% 1,8- cineol, 9.6% camphor, 3.46% borneol. According to sensory assessment results, the shelf life of sardine fillets stored at 4oC was found as 13 days for control, 20 days for rosemary and sage tea treated samples. At 20 days of storage periods, TVB-N values for control, rosemary and sage tea groups reached 45.05 mg/100g, 29.26 mg/100g and 31.04, respectively. TBA values at the end of storage period were 0.98, 0.66, 1.44 mg malonaldehite/kg for control, rosemary and sage tea grups, respectively. Peroxide values increased throught the storage time and showed insignificant differences (P>0.05) amoung three groups. FFA values in three groups increased with storage time, and the values of FFA in rosemary and sage tea groups were lower than control groups. Statistical differences were observed among fatty acids during the storage period (P<0.05). According to microbiological results, antibacterial activity of rosemary and sage tea was found in fish fillets during storage periods.Key Words: Sardine, Rosemary, Sage tea, Antioxidant, 1-8 Cineol