Evaluation of Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Properties of Eucalyptus Extracts in Zein Films to Improve of Minced Sheep Meat Packaging Shelf Life

Meat products are delicate to quality deterioration due to their rich nutritional composition. The quality deterioration is due to microbial and chemical changes. In order to extend the food shelf-life and maintain product safety, quality and coolness, it is necessary to select sufficient materials and packaging technologies, of which biodegradable films containing antimicrobials. The use of essential oils and plant extracts such as eucalyptus became the main replacements for synthetic additives have rich in phenolic component such as 1,8-cineole. Research data has illustrated that the EO extract exhibited various biological effects, such as antioxidant, anti-hyperglycemic and antibacterial activities. Zein is a renewable polymeric material with potential applications in the plan of food packages. This context evaluates application of Eucalyptus extract in protein corn zein polymer among refrigerated storage of ground sheep meat. The data about the present study were explicit as means ± SD of triplicate. The significance of difference was performed by analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Tukey’s test was used for mean comparison. Results showed bioactive film made of zein containing the natural antioxidants, eucalyptus, was effective at delaying the lipid oxidation of raw sheep meat during refrigerated storage. The best treatment was 1.5 percent eucalyptus extract in zein film that provides minced sheep meat shelf life for 6 days (double effect).