ARS | Publication request: Hedonic evaluation of cooked chicken wrapped with apple and tomato films formulated with cinnamaldehvde and carvacrol

Submitted to: Progress in Nutrition
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: October 20, 2009
Publication Date: January 1, 2010
Citation: Du, W., Avena Bustillos, R.D., Woods, R.D., Mc Hugh, T.H., Levin, C.E., Mandrell, R.E., Friedman, M. 2010. Hedonic evaluation of cooked chicken wrapped with apple and tomato films formulated with cinnamaldehvde and carvacrol. Progress in Nutrition. p. 87.

Technical Abstract: Edible films and coatings can be used as carriers of plant essential oils and their active antibacterial components to protect food against bacterial pathogens and spoilage, while potentially enhancing sensory properties of the wrapped foods. To demonstrate this possibility, this study evaluated the effect of adding (0%, 0.5%, 0.75%, 1.0%) of carvacrol (the active ingredient of oregano essential oil) and of cinnamaldehyde (the active ingredient of cinnamon oil) to apple and tomato-based film-forming solutions on sensory properties of the resulting films. Paired comparison preference tests performed by 55-65 untrained human volunteers indicated that baked chicken wrapped with tomato and apple films containing 0.5% carvacrol or cinnamaldehyde were equally preferred over chicken wrapped with tomato or apple films without the plant antimicrobials. The consumers preferred carvacrol-containing tomato film chicken wraps over the corresponding apple film wraps. Statistical analysis of the sensory data also indicates that the cinnamaldehyde (0.5%) and 0.75%)-containing apple films were preferred over the corresponding carvacrol-containing films. The data suggest that films and coatings containing antibacterial essential oils can be used to protect raw chicken pieces against bacterial contamination without adversely affecting sensory preferences of cooked wrapped chicken pieces.