Fabrication of olive leaf extract and hazelnut skin incorporated films to improve the quality of nuggets during refrigerated and deep freeze storage

1. Olive leaf extract (OLE) and hazelnut skin (HS), which are known to have good antioxidant activity, were added into chicken nuggets in different ways. In the first method, the nuggets were coated with sodium alginate-calcium chloride-based coatings containing OLE and HS. In the second method, OLE and HS were directly added into the nugget patties. Nuggets that did not contain any additive (C1) and the samples prepared with the coating solution that did not include any additives (C2) were assigned as controls. 2. Nuggets were stored at two different temperatures, either in a refrigerator (4 degrees C) or in a deep freezer (-18 degrees C) for 21 days and 90 days respectively. Moisture content (%), pH, antioxidant status (TBARS), colour and microbial count (total mesophilic and psychrophilic aerobic bacteria) analyses were carried out during storage. 3. At the end of refrigerator storage (day 21), TBARS values for samples in which OLE and HS were directly added were found to be lower than those with OLE and HS coatings (P < 0.05). Total number of mesophilic and psychrophilic bacteria were found to be the lowest in the treatment in which HS was directly incorporated into nugget patty (P < 0.05). 4. For frozen samples, application of a coating containing OLE and HS and direct addition of HS into patties were found to be effective in reducing lipid oxidation. No microbial growth was determined in most of the samples stored in the deep freezer.