Effect of marinade containing thyme and orange oils on broiler breast fillet and whole wing aerobic bacteria during refrigerated storage

Raw meat typically hosts spoilage organisms and sometimes hosts pathogens; to combat this, natural antimicrobial interventions have gained interest among consumers. In a previous study a marinade containing a thyme-orange essential oils combination (TOC) at the 0.5% level was found to inhibit Salmonella and Campylobacter species. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the effect of a salt-phosphate marinade solution with 0.5% TOC (treatment) or without TOC (control) applied by vacuum tumbling on the shelf life of broiler breast fillets and whole wings. The total aerobic and facultative mesophiles (TAM) occurring naturally on these products during refrigerated storage for 14 d (at 1, 7, 10, and 14 d) were enumerated. A total of 48 (24 for each trial) skinless breast fillets and 48 (24 for each trial) whole wings were used for the 2 trials. For each trial, 12 of the 24 breast fillets or wings were marinated using the control marinade solution and the remaining 12 were marinated in the treatment marinade solution. on d 1, 7, 10, and 14, 3 treatment and 3 control breast fillets and wings were randomly selected for TAM enumeration. Sample rinsates were plated in duplicate and incubated at 35 C for 48 h. Thyme-orange combination marinade significantly reduced TAM numbers on d 1, 7, and 10 compared with the controls. log reductions of 0.3, 0.9, and 1.1 were recorded on d 1, 7, and 10, respectively. The difference in TAM between the treated and untreated whole wings was not significant. Therefore, 0.5% TOC in marinade can be used as a natural antimicrobial to reduce TAM on skinless breast fillets; however, a higher concentration may be required for skin-on products.