Effect of Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), Oregano (Origanum vulgare), Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) on the physico-chemical,microbialand sensory attributes of chicken nuggets

A comparative study was undertaken to evaluate the antimicrobial and antioxidant ef icacy of Rosemary oil (RO), Oregano oil (OO), and Thyme oil (TO) on physico-chemical, microbial and sensory attributes of chicken nuggets.Chicken nuggets were formulated with the addition of a pre-standardized level of 0.1% essential oils of RO (T ), OO (T ), TO (T ),along with a control.Fresh chicken nuggetdeveloped were analyzed for various physico-chemical (emulsion & product pH, emulsion stability, product yield, shear force value, proximate analysis, calori ic value, DPPH scavenging activity, total phenolic content, fatty acid composition) and sensory parameters.The physic-chemical, proximate analysis, fatty acid composition and sensory attributes of treatment groups were signi icantly (p<0.05)higher than control.In order to evaluate the antimicrobial ef icacy of essential oil, the aerobically packed chicken nuggets were subjected to storage studies viz., product pH, free fatty acids, DPPH scavenging activity, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances value, tyrosine value, microbiological and sensory parameters for 35day's at 7day's interval under refrigerated condition.As the storage period progresses the quality attributes gradually and signi icantly (p<0.05)decreases, but were well within the limits of acceptability.Thus it is concluded that among the three different essential oils used, 0.1% level of thyme oil added to chicken nuggets was found to be optimum and it can be effectively stored upto 28day's under refrigerated conditions (41C) without marked loss in storage quality.