The meat is regarded as one of the major sources of food-borne diseases; and control of these pathogens is the most important thing concerns to researcher of Food Hygiene. The present study was conducted to evaluate efficacy of natural essential oils as antimicrobial agents used for preservation of meat. An experiment was designed to evaluate the effect of different concentrations (0.3, 0.5 and 1%) of Thyme, Clove and Cumin essential oils against referenced strains of Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella Typhimurium inoculated in minced meat during cold storage at 4 ±1 0C. The obtained results revealed that all tested oils have antimicrobial effect against both S. aureus and S. Typhimurium with different degree and Thyme oil 1% showed the highest reduction % against S. aureus followed by Clove oil then Cumin oil, While Clove oil showed the highest reduction % against S. Typhimurium followed by Thyme then Cumin oil. The mixture of the three oils 0.3% more effective in growth inhibition of S. aureus than S. Typhimurium. Finally we concluded that essential oils from plants were effective as antibacterial agents in minced meat and can be used as meat preservatives.
Key words: Essential oils, Thyme, Clove, Cumin, Food-borne pathogens and Minced meat.
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