J. Env. Bio-Sci., 2015: Vol.

29 (2):483-486
(483) ISSN 0973-6913 (Print), ISSN 0976-3384 (On Line)

GARLIC ESSENTIAL OIL AS A NATURAL ANTIOXIDANT IN EDIBLE COATING OF

ENROBED CHICKEN MEAT BALLS
S.Arun Prabhu, A.Kalaikannan, A.Elango, K.A. Doraisamy1 and D. Santhi*
Department of Livestock Products Technology,
Veterinary College and Research Institute, Namakkal
1
Dean, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Namakkal
[Corresponding author E-mail*: drdshanthi@tanuvas.org.in]

Received: 19-06-2015 Accepted: 25-07-2015

Enrobed chicken meat balls were prepared with the objective of incorporating garlic essential oil (GO) as a natural antioxidant in
the edible coating and assessing the physico-chemical and sensory properties. Emulsion based chicken meat balls were enrobed
with cornflakes, where beaten whole-egg was applied as an inner edible coating in which the GO was blended at 0.05%, 0.10% and
0.15% levels along with a control. The product pH before and after frying, percentage of enrobing and frying loss did not differ
significantly among the treatments. The antioxidant efficacy as assessed by the DPPH (diphenylpicrylhydrazyl) scavenging activity
of GO in product was significantly (P  0.01) higher at 0.10% and 0.15% levels. In the sensory evaluation based on an eight point
hedonic scale there was no significant difference in the appearance, texture, crispiness, juiciness and mouth coating of the
chicken meat balls among the treatments. The flavour and overall acceptability scores were significantly (P  0.01) lower for the
0.15% GO treatment wherein those of other treatments were comparable with that of control. Hence from the above results it could
be concluded that GO might be added as a natural antioxidant in the edible coating of enrobed chicken meat balls up to 0.10% level
without affecting the physico-chemical and the sensory properties with good consumer acceptability.

Since ancient times Indian spices play an important role in
Ayurvedic and Siddha medicine for their well known antibacterial
and anti-inflammatory effects. In recent days, the essential
oils extracted from these spices had been demonstrated to
possess antimicrobial and antifungal effects against various
food borne pathogens. Garlic is one of the important spices
which is invariably used in Indian culinary known for its
antimicrobial and preservative effects, it had been used by our
ancestors from historic times. The antioxidant and antibacterial
properties of garlic essential oil in various meat products had
been established by many researchers 1-6. Currently,
consumers are aware about the ill effects of chemical
preservatives and try to shift towards preservative free foods or
foods with only natural preservatives. Hence it is imperative to
develop foods free from synthetic preservatives or foods with
only natural preservatives to meet the consumer needs.
Presently, poultry meat, especially broiler meat consumption
had increased in India due to the reason that it has a low fat
content compared to other meats and thus a meat of choice
of most of the consumers. With regard to the meat, poultry,
and fisheries industries, edible coatings with good moisture
barrier properties could help alleviate the problem of moisture
loss. Further, these edible coatings are found to act as a carrier
NAAS Rating (2016)-4.20
for the antimicrobials such as nisin, essential oils and
antifungal agents. These edible coatings containing active
compounds are mostly effective than mixing these compounds
to the food itself, due to the localised nature of the
contamination on the surface.
Meat products have longer shelf life in frozen storage, yet the
organoleptic properties could be well retained in refrigerated
storage. Thus, to extend the refrigerated shelf life of meat
products, a combination of edible coating and natural
preservatives could be incorporated at a maximum tolerable
level without affecting the sensory characteristics. The present
study was done with the objective of incorporating garlic
essential oil (GO) as a natural antioxidant in the edible coating,
assessing the physico-chemical and sensory properties and
evolving the maximum incorporation level without affecting the
sensory properties.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
The deboned chicken meat was trimmed of all visible adipose
and connective tissues, minced, packaged in low-density
polyethylene (LDPE) and stored in the laboratory freezer at -
18±2oC for subsequent use in the experiments. The frozen
minced meat was tempered to 4°C by keeping in refrigerator

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 GARLIC ESSENTIAL OIL AS A NATURAL ANTIOXIDANT (484)

Table-1. Formulation for chicken meat balls. Table-2. Effect of garlic oil (GO) in edible coating on
Physico-chemical characteristics of enrobed
chicken meat balls.

Means bearing different superscripts between columns differ

significantly. NS - Not significant

Table-3. Effect of garlic oil (GO) in edible coating on Antioxidant properties of enrobed chicken
meat balls

Means bearing different superscripts between columns differ significantly.

** (P  0.01); NS - Not significant
Table-4. Effect of garlic oil (GO) in edible coating on Organoleptic properties of enrobed chicken
meat balls

Means bearing different superscripts between columns differ significantly.

* - (P  0.05), NS - Not significant

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 (485) PRABHU, KALAIKANNAN, ELANGO, DORAISAMY AND SANTHI
overnight and used for the preparation of emulsion. The emulsion
was prepared by adding minced meat and the other ingredients
of the formulation in a bowl chopper (Table-1).
Meat balls of 10 g weight each were formed manually, cooked
in water to reach a core temperature of 82°C, allowed to cool
at room temperature and enrobed. For enrobing, the meat ball
(control) was first dipped in a homogenized mixture containing
beaten whole egg, 2.5% each of garlic, ginger and onion paste
and again coated with a mixture containing refined wheat flour,
2.5% spice mix and 2% salt. For treatment groups, GO at
three levels of 0.05 %, 0.1% and 0.15 % were added to the
beaten whole egg mix with the control formulation. The enrobed
meat ball was tumbled in vacuum tumbler for 15 min and again
dipped in beaten egg mix followed by coating with crushed
cornflakes to make the final product. The enrobed meat balls
were fried in oil at 172°C for about 2 minutes. Then the enrobed
meatballs were subjected to physico-chemical and sensory
evaluation7. Statistical analyses were performed as per the
standard methods8.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Physico-chemical characteristics: In the present study,
addition of GO did not show any marked effect on product pH
before and after frying which was similar to the results of earlier
workers who studied the effect of addition of fresh garlic to
chicken sausages9(Table-2). Also there were no significant
differences in percentage of enrobing and frying loss among
the treatments.
Antioxidant properties: DPPH scavenging activity of GO (%)
was high in 0.10% GO, followed by 0.15% and 0.05%. However,
there was no significant difference between 0.10% and 0.15%
level of addition (Table-3). In assessing the in vitro antioxidant
activity of the essential oil isolated from fresh rhizomes of
garlic, some workers also reported an increase in DPPH
scavenging activity with the increase in concentration of garlic
essential oil10. DPPH scavenging activity of GO in product
was significantly (P  0.01) higher in 0.10% and 0.15% levels
when compared to 0% and 0.05% levels with no significant
difference between former two levels and the latter two levels.
Earlier researchers reported that free radical scavenging activity
increased in ready-to-eat garlic products11.
Organoleptic properties: Appearance score did not differ
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significantly among the treatments which was in concurrent
with the results of earlier workers12(Table-4). Addition of GO at
0.15% level significantly (P  0.05) decreased the flavour scores
over the other levels of addition and control; yet the score was
above 'moderately acceptable' level. Similarly, some other
workers also reported a decrease in flavor score with increasing
level of garlic essential oil in minced pork13. GO in the edible
coating did not affect the texture scores over control where
some also reported that there was no significant difference in
texture scores of the sausages added with GO. Addition of
GO did not affect the crispiness14.
Similar to the studies of earlier workers who reported no
significant difference in juiciness of sausage added with garlic,
in the present study juiciness score did not differ significantly
among treatments14. There was no significant difference in
mouth coating scores. Overall acceptability score was
significantly (P  0.05) lower in 0.15% added garlic than other
treatments and control. As earliers also reported a non
significant decrease in overall acceptability with addition of
fresh garlic at 5% level in sausages.
CONCLUSION
Presently, consumers' concern over synthetic preservatives
has increased interest in the use of natural preservatives. Thus
it could be concluded that GO might be used as one of the
natural preservatives in the edible coating of chicken meat
balls owing to its antioxidant activity. The maximum inclusion
level of GO in the chicken patties may limited to 0.10% with
respect to the flavour odour and overall acceptability score
with no influence on other organoleptic attributes. Yet
depending upon the palate of consumers it may be still
increased up to 0.15% levels if it is acceptable. Thus, Garlic
essential oil could be used as a potent natural preservative in
the edible coating of many food products at a concentration
not affecting the sensory properties of the food.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors acknowledge the Ministry of Food Processing
Industries, Government of India for the financial grant and Tamil
Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University for providing
the institutional support for carrying out this research work.
 GARLIC ESSENTIAL OIL AS A NATURAL ANTIOXIDANT (486)

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