| The objective of the current research was to evaluate the impact of sodium
acetate (SA) and rosemary essential oil (REO) on the microbiological and
physicochemical characteristics of rainbow trout coated with carboxymethyl
cellulose (CMC) and kept for 16 days at 4°C. The CMC coating was supplemented
with isolated SA or SA combined with REO (0.5% or 1%). The gas
chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) evaluation indicated that the
REO was chiefly composed of 1,8-cineole (25.21%) and α-pinene (22.34%).
The microbiological evaluation revealed that the growth of mesophilic bacteria,
psychrotrophic bacteria, Pseudomonas spp., lactic acid bacteria, and
Enterobacteriaceae was considerably slower in rainbow trout meat coated
with CMC, SA, and REO (0.5 or 1%) relative to the control. Such coatings also
improved the pH, water-holding capacity, cooking yield index, and sensory
characteristics of rainbow trout fillets. The total volatile basic nitrogen content,
peroxide value, and amount of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances
were significantly lower in the experimental samples relative to the control.
Hence, we introduced a novel CMC coating containing SA and REO (0.5 or
1%) that improves the shelf life and quality of refrigerated rainbow trout
meat. |