The effect of natural antimicrobial gelatin coating on Salmonella and shelf life in chicken meat

In this study, chicken breast meat was coated with beef gelatin containing different antimicrobial substances and stored at 4 ̊C to investigate the effects on shelf life and viability of Salmonella. Chicken breast meat, edible beef gelatin, glycerol, oregano juice, oregano oil, bay oil and clove oil were used in the experiments. Chicken breast meat was obtained from retail outlets, approximately 5 log Salmonella was inoculated, the inoculated and uniculated samples were used in the analysis. Work groups were formed based on the antimicrobial substance that is used and the immersion coating was applied to all groups except the control group. The coated meat samples were transferred to styrofoam plates and tightly wrapped in stretch film. The pH measurements and microbiological analysis were conducted at specific days (0, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15) of refrigerated storage at 4°C for 15 days. In the 15-day period, coliform bacteria, total aerobic mesophilic bacteria, psychrophilic aerobic bacteria and Salmonella counts were higher in the control group than the other antimicrobial coated groups and this difference was found statistically significant in some groups (p˂0.05). The results show that the most effective antimicrobial group was the group C (1% thyme oil) (p˂0.05) and the antimicrobial free gelatin coated group (Group B) was not effective (p˃0.05) in reducing the microbial load of samples. The findings of this study show that the thyme, clove and laurel essential oils combined with gelatin have a determining effect on the shelf life of chicken breast meat and assist in reducing Salmonella count. Moreover, this application can be improved to obtain better results and applied effectively in the food industry.