Effect of basil essential oil on caprine meat's quality and shelf-life

Caprine meat is regarded as a significant source of biologically valuable proteins, good fats, and minerals for human beings. While caprine meat is marketed at refrigeration temperature it is important to minimize microbial deterioration, and oxidation to ensure meat safety and quality. Thus, this research was done to assess the effect of basil essential oil (BEO) used at different three concentrations (0.5, 1, and 1.5%) on the sensory evaluation, chemical quality (pH, thiobarbituric acid “TBA”, total volatile nitrogen “TVN”), and microbiological quality (total bacterial count, enterobacteriaceae, staphylococcal count, E. coli , total yeast & mold) of caprine meat stored for 12 days at 4°C. The obtained results demonstrated that addition of BEO at different concentrations improved the sensory properties of treated caprine meat as compared with control; Regarding chemical quality it was found that addition BEO with different concentrations decrease pH, TBA, and TVN values in treated caprine meat as compared with control samples this meaning that BEO had an antioxidant effect. In relation to microbiological quality, it was found that different concentrations of BEO decrease microbial count in treated caprine and extends shelf until day 12 of meat storage as compared with control samples. The concentration of 1.5% BEO gave the highest microbiological inhibition. Control caprine meat starts to decompose at 6 th of storage while addition of BEO at concentration 0.5% extends shelf life till 9 th day of storage and BEO at 1 and 1.5% extend shelf life until day 12 of storage. The obtained results revealed that BEO at 1% significantly improved sensory properties, chemical and microbiological quality of caprine meat although BEO at concentration 1.5% was more effective but gave strong odor and color changes which may be undesirable for consumers. The result of this study concludes that BEO has an antioxidant and antimicrobial effect and could be used as natural preservative for caprine meat during refrigeration temperature