Effects of some plant extracts and essential oils on quality characteristics, biogenic amines and nitrosamines contents of chicken sausages

This study aimed to investigate the safety and quality attributes of heat treated chicken sausages manufactured with different levels of bay leaf and sage extracts and essential oils used as natural antioxidants. The treatments included bay leaf and sage extracts (1, 2.5, and 5 mL/kg), their essential oils (0.01, 0.05, and 0.10 mL/kg), and a control. Bay leaf and sage essential oils and S-extract-High produced lower TBARS values than control on Day0, while sage extracts and essential oils produced lower TBARS values than control on the fermentation and Day60. Biogenic amine contents of sausages were lower than the indicated limits. The dominant biogenic amine was tyramine and its content increased during the fermentation. Tryptamine contents of all treatments gradually decreased during the storage. Putrescine contents increased during the fermentation and then decreased on the first 30 days of the storage and remained similar until the end of the storage. Treatments with bay leaf essential oils and B-extract-High at the fermentation stage and treatments with sage on Day60 had lower putrescine contents than the control. Histamine content of the control increased during the fermentation and decreased on Day0 and then remained similar until the end of the storage, while histamine content of S-essential-oil-Medium increased on Day60. Histamine contents decreased at the fermentation stage under the effect of bay leaf and sage extracts and essential oils, while S-extract-Medium and S-extract-High had lower histamine contents than control on Day0. Spermidine contents of B-essential-oil-Low, B-essential-oil-Medium, and S-extract-Low increased on Day0. Spermidine contents decreased under the action of sage essential oils, S-extract-Medium, and S-extract-High when compared to control on Day60. Spermine contents of all treatments increased on Day0, except for B-essential-oil-Low and S-essential-oil-Medium. Spermine contents decreased on Day60 when bay leaf and sage essential oils and S-extract-Medium and S-extract-High treatments were applied. Seven different N-nitrosamines were studied including NDMA, NMEA, NDEA, NDPA, NDBA, NPIP, and NPYR. Total N-nitrosamines level was lower than the indicated limit of 10 µg/kg before cooking in most treatments. Additional cooking had no significant effect on the total N-nitrosamines level. This study indicated that the use of bay leaf and sage extract and essential oil had generally no negative effects on heat treated chicken sausages during the storage at 4 °C and might improve their safety and quality. Keywords: Chicken sausages, Biogenic amines, N-nitrosamines, Extracts, Essential oil