Assessment of anti-oxidative and antimicrobial activity of monkey jack pulp extract added to fresh chicken meatball at refrigerated condition

The study evaluates the ability of anti-oxidative and antimicrobial activities of monkey jack pulp extract (MJPE) as a natural source of antioxidants in fresh chicken (broiler) meatballs in comparison with butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and sodium nitrite (SN) contained meatballs during storage at 4 °C temperature for 1, 5, and 10 days. Based on the addition of antioxidant sources, four types of meatballs were prepared: T0 (0 %), T1 (0.02 % BHT), T2 (0.01 % SN) and T3 (0.3 % MJPE). Various tests were conducted including pH, cooking yield, instrumental color, heme iron, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and antimicrobial properties have been performed in this study. On each storage day, T3 showed significantly ( P < 0.05) lower values of pH, cooking yield, TBARS, total viable counts (TVC), and yellowness (b*) value compared to T0, T1 and T2. On the other hand, the T3 samples exhibited significantly higher values of ( P < 0.05) redness, lightness, heme iron, and free radical scavenging activity (DPPH). During refrigeration, MJPE (T3) effectively reduced lipid oxidation, maintained natural color, increased heme iron content, and decreased microbial load in chicken meatballs compared to control (T0), BHT (T1) and SN (T2). These findings demonstrate that MJPE (T3) was effective in improving the quality and extending the shelf life of fresh chicken (broiler) meatballs by exhibiting anti-oxidative and antimicrobial activities.