Coating with alginate containing a mixture of essential oils and citrus extract in combination with ozonation or gamma irradiation increased the shelf life of Merluccius sp. fillets

The present study illustrates the combined effect of EOs (mixture of essential oils and citrus extract) coating with ozonation (Oz) or gamma irradiation (GI) on the shelf life of Merluccius sp. fillets stored at 4 degrees C. The fillets were coated with 1.6 % w/v EOs mixtures prepared in 2 % w/v alginate followed by treatment with Oz (10 ppm for 15 min) or GI (1.0 kGy). Results showed that, during the storage, the combined treatment (Alginate/EOs/Oz or Alginate/EOs/GI) exhibited the best result in increasing the shelf life of fillets. The shelf life of fillets was 7 days for control (fillets without any treatment) but increased to > 28 days for Alginate/EOs/GI samples. However, the shelf life of fillets were 14 days and 21 days when treated by Alginate/EOs coating alone and Alginate/EOs coating with Oz treatment, respectively. The optimization of combined treatment dose can increase the shelf life of packaged fish up to the desired duration.