Effect of active-edible coating and essential oils on lamb patties shelf life

The use of natural products to reduce the use of synthetic additives in meat products, reducing the oxidation and improving the shelf life is a current challenge. Meat quality from lamb patties during 10 days of display on modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) and active-edible coating were tested under six treatments: uncoated patties without coating (CON); patties with alginate coating (EC) and patties with coating and 0.1 or 0.05% of essential oils (EOs) from either thyme (TH 0.1; TH 0.05) or oregano (OR 0.1; OR 0.05). Display and treatment significantly modified (P < 0.001) all the studied meat quality variables (pH, color, water holding capacity, weight losses, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), antioxidant activity). Display produced discoloration and lipid oxidation, however, the samples with essential oils presented lower (P < 0.001) lipid oxidation than the CON or EC groups. Coated samples with or without EOs showed better color (lower lightness but higher redness and yellowness) and lower water losses (P < 0.001) than the CON. The addition of thyme EO caused a decrease (P < 0.001) in the consumer´s overall acceptability, whereas no statistical differences appeared between CON, EC and oregano EO addition. Thus, using EOs as natural antioxidants, especially those from oregano at low dosages (0.05%), could be considered a viable strategy to enhance the shelf life and the product quality of lamb meat patties without damaging the sensory acceptability.