Effects of herbal marinades on the shelf-life of chilled chicken ‘Satay’ / Faridah Ahamad

Effects of herbal marinades in term of antioxidant and antimicrobial of three types of
Malaysian herbs namely Curry leaf (Murraya koenigii), ‘Kesum’ leaf (Polygonum
minus huds) and ‘Ulam Raja’ (Cosmos caudatus) were investigated against lipid
oxidation and microbial growth in chicken ‘satay’ during storage at -4°C for 12
days. The antioxidative activities were compared to chicken ‘satay’ formulation
without herbal mixtures (Control) and with synthetic antioxidant BHA/BHT.
Formulations with herbal mixtures (F1) (0.31%), with twice the amount of herbal
mixtures (F2) (0.61%) and with BHA/BHT showed significantly lower
Thiobarbituric Acid Values (TBA) and Peroxides Values (PV) compared to the
Control. Addition of either herbal mixtures (0.31% or 0.61%) or BHA/BHT (0.02%)
significantly delayed lipid oxidation when compared to the Control. The antioxidant
of the different samples added were in the descending order,
F1>BHA/BHT>F2>Control. On the other hand, the initial Total Plate Count and
Mould and Yeast Count in the samples ranged from 5.1 to 5.7 log10 CFU/ml and 3.7
to 4.5 log10 CFU/ml respectively. Addition of herbal mixtures and BHA/BHT
slightly reduced microbial counts when compared to control at 0 day. All the
samples were spoiled on day 3 onwards in both microbial tests except for BHA/BHT
in mould and yeast count which started to spoil at day 6. Sensory analysis indicated
that overall panelist’s acceptability toward the samples followed the order:
Control>F1>F2. The results suggested that herbal mixtures of Curry leaf (Murraya
koenigii), ‘Kesum’ leaf (Polygonum minus huds) and ‘Ulam Raja’ (Cosmos
caudatus) could be another potential source of natural food ingredients to preserve
meat products.