Chitosan edible coating incorporated with resveratrol and Satureja bachtiarica essential oil as natural active packaging: In vitro antibacterial and antioxidant properties, and its impact on the shelf life of fresh chicken fillet and growth of inoculated Escherichia coli O157:H7

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of chitosan coating containing resveratrol (RES) and Satureja bachtiarica essential oil (SEO) on the microbial quality, oxidative stability, and sensory properties of chicken meat as well as inoculated Escherichia coli O157:H7 during 12 day storage at 4 °C. The synergistic in vitro antioxidant effects between RES and SEO in chitosan coatings were observed. Moreover, chicken coated with chitosan solution containing RES 0.001% + SEO 2% indicated better results compared with the control group with the following scores (p≤0.05): Total viable count (6.11 log10 CFU/g), total psychrotrophic count (5.39 log10 CFU/g), Lactic acid bacteria (5.36 log10 CFU/g), pH (6.25), peroxide value (4.32 meq/kg lipid), thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (1.03 mg MDA/kg), sensory analysis (overall acceptability: 5.5), and inoculated E.coli O157:H7 (6.01 log10 CFU/g). The finding of the present study can contribute to the meat industry as a natural active packaging system.