Shelf‐Life Extension of Chicken Fillets Using Flaxseed Mucilage Coatings Incorporated With Bixin‐Allicin or Bixin‐Orange Peel Essential Oil Nanoemulsions

This study evaluated the properties of orange peel essential oil (OPE) and allicin emulsions and their efficacy in flaxseed mucilage-bixin (FM-B) coating for preserving chicken fillets during 12-day storage at 4°C. The nanoemulsions (OPEN and AN) exhibited superior initial properties and stability, with significantly smaller initial droplet sizes (93.5 and 81.3 nm, respectively), high zeta potential (-36.46 mV for both), and higher antioxidant activity (33.27 and 42.28 mg/mL) compared to the corresponding microemulsions (OPEM and AM). This enhanced stability was confirmed after 30 days of storage, as the nanoemulsions maintained their small droplet size (117 nm for OPEN and 105 nm for AN), while the microemulsions exhibited significantly larger droplets (1304 nm for OPEM and 1070 nm for AM) and a lower zeta potential (approximately -26.7 mV). Coated fillets demonstrated significantly improved preservation over the uncoated control (C). The best performance was consistently observed for the FM-B-AN and FM-B-OPEN coatings. After 12 days of storage, the FM-B-AN coating limited the pH increase to 6.29, weight loss to 7.17%, and maintained the fillet hardness at 4.53 N, compared to the control values of pH 7.30, 16.43% weight loss, and 3.44 N hardness. Lipid oxidation was significantly inhibited, with FM-B-AN producing the lowest peroxide value (PV) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARs) of 4.90 meq O₂/kg and 0.26 mg MDA/kg, respectively, versus 11.72 meq O₂/kg and 0.77 mg MDA/kg for the uncoated sample. Microbiological analyses revealed that all active coatings inhibited the microbial growth, with FM-B-AN and FM-B-AM being the most effective coatings. On day 12, FM-B-AN achieved the lowest total viable bacterial count (TVC) (7.25 log CFU/g), psychrotrophic bacteria count (PTC) (6.90 log CFU/g), molds and yeasts (5.80 log CFU/g), <i>E. coli</i> (4.60 log CFU/g), and <i>S. aureus</i> (0.77 log CFU/g). In conclusion, the incorporation of allicin and OPE nanoemulsions, particularly allicin nanoemulsion (AN), into the FM-B coating created a highly effective barrier that delayed the physicochemical deterioration and microbial growth in chicken fillets.