The effects of rosemary extract combination with vacuum packing on the quality changes of Atlantic mackerel fish burgers

Summary The effects of the use of antioxidant technology on the quality of mackerel burgers stored at 4 °C were investigated in terms of sensory, biochemical [thiobarbituric acid (TBA), total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB‐N), peroxide value (PV) and free fatty acids (FFA)] and microbiological analyses [total viable count (TVC)]. Fish meat was divided into three groups; the control (C) without rosemary extract, the second group with 0.4% rosemary extracts (Group A) and the third with 0.8% rosemary extracts (Group B). Results showed that the TVB‐N level did not exceed acceptability limit (30–35 mg 100 g −1 ) for all groups. TBA value for the control significantly increased from 1.47 to 4.80 MA kg −1 whereas it slightly increased in treatment groups as the storage time increased. Significantly higher PV and FFA ( P < 0.05) were obtained from the control group. Rosemary extract, in combination with vacuum pack was effective in controlling the growth of bacteria and biochemical indices.