Bioactive Compound, Antioxidant, and Radical Scavenging Activity of Some Plant Aqueous Extracts for Enhancing Shelf Life of Cold-Stored Rabbit Meat

• Main Authors: Huda Abdalrahman Al Jumayi (Author), Ayman Younes Allam (Author), Alaa El-D (Author), Eman Hassan Algarni (Author), Samy F. Mahmoud (Author), Amin Abd El Halim Kandil (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: MDPI AG, 2022-05-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

The potential radical scavenging, antioxidant activities (DPPH and ABTS) and bioactive constituents of several plant aqueous extracts (<i>Curcuma longa</i>, CL; <i>Myristica fragrans</i>, MF; <i>Zingiber officinale</i>, ZO; <i>Cymbopogon citratus</i>, CC and <i>Thymus vulgaris</i>, TV as well as their mixture) were investigated. The effect of these extracts on quality aspects (sensory characteristic, color traits, and Thiobarbituric acid) of rabbit meat during a 16-day cold (4 ± 2 °C) storage were investigated. Total phenolics and flavonoid contents of all extracts ranged from 13.27 ± 0.57 to 25.23 ± 0.49 mg GAE/g and 6.57 ± 0.22 to 13.24 ± 0.19 mg quercetin/g, respectively. The aqueous extract of MF had the highest (<i>p</i> ≤ 0.05) ABTS scavenging activity (4.55 μ mol Te/g dry extract), whereas the highest (<i>p</i> < 0.05) DPPH scavenging activity was detected in ZO extract (9.32 μ mol Te/g dry extract). Identification of extracts' bioactive compounds by GC-MS revealed that Eugenol (34.51%), Cinnamaldehyde (44.71%), Carvacrol (40.49%), Eicosane aldehyde (31.73%), and thymol (50.04%) are the first abundant bioactive compounds of CL, MF, ZO, CC, and TV aqueous extracts, respectively. Generally, the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) of all cold stored rabbit meat increased (<i>p</i> < 0.05) by increasing the storage time. The lowest TBARS values were detected for the samples treated with 0.2% of plant extracts mixture, which increased the shelf life of cold-stored rabbits by 50%. Significant (<i>p</i> < 0.05) increases in both L* and b* were observed with extended storage time. Meanwhile, the redness of the cold stored rabbit meat had an opposite trend. Treating the cold stored rabbit meat with 0.2% of the extract's mixture doubled the storage time with acceptable odor and taste. The results indicated that the studied plant extracts may be effective against rancidity and may be used as a natural antioxidant to prolong the shelf life of cold-stored rabbit meat.

Item Description

10.3390/antiox11061056
2076-3921