Effect of Chitosan-Rosemary Incorporated Membrane on the Chemical Quality and Shelf life of Meatballs Chilled at 4°C.

the study aimed to evaluate the chemical quality and shelf life of raw minced meat preserved by chitosan loaded with rosemary essential oil (EO). The control and the chitosan film incorporated with rosemary essential oil with different concentrations – preserved minced meat treatments were formed into meatballs to be stored at 4 ◦C for 10 days. The results showed a significant difference in the pH values of different treatments, the meat balls preserved by chitosan film incorporated with rosemary essential oil with different concentrations had the lowest value compared with control especially 0.6 % concentration, the pH recorded 6.02 at 10th day of storage in which the treatments preserved using 1 % rosemary essential oil had 6.36 pH and the control samples were spoiled. The use of rosemary essential oil and chitosan incorporated film with different concentrations of rosemary had significant reductions in the value of Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances (TBARs) and peroxide value (PV) in comparison with the control treatment. The preservation of minced meat by chitosan loaded with rosemary essential oil had a highly significant impact on the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) compared to unpreserved control samples. The 0.6 % rosemary incorporated with chitosan film preserved meat balls had the highest TAC 10th day of storage (6.44 ). Therefore, the preservation of minced meat using chitosan loaded with rosemary essential oil improved the chemical quality and prolong the shelf life of minced meat and could be applied as a promising preservative for meat and its products.