Evaluating the quality of mutton meat coated with Cordia myxa fruit mucilage containing Rosmarinus officinalis essential oil during cold storage

Red meat has been an inseparable part of our diet throughout human evolution. However, it has a limited shelf life owing to microbial growth and chemical changes. Application of edible films and coatings incorporated with essential oils is a novel method to preserve quality and extend shelf life of foods. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Cordia myxa fruit mucilage (CMFM) coatings containing Rosmarinus officinalis essential oil (ROEO) on the preservation and shelf life of mutton meat during cold storage. CMFM was extracted from whole fruits using hot water and the mutton meat samples were coated with CMFM having different ROEO concentrations (0%, 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, and 2% v/v). Coating of meat with the edible CMFM prevented the increase of pH and decrease of moisture. At the end of 9-day refrigerated storage, pH of control and coated sample containing 2% essential oil were 6.31 and 5.89 and the moisture contents were 58.7 and 66.18, respectively. During the storage, the amount of hardness, cohesiveness, and chewiness decreased whereas adhesiveness increased (p < 0.05). Microbiological and sensorial results revealed that as the ROEO concentration increased, the shelf life of coated mutton meat samples significantly improved. The uncoated (control) and the coated sample having 2% essential oil had minimum (less than 3 days) and maximum (more than 9 days) refrigerated shelf life, respectively. Therefore, application of the CMFM edible coating containing ROEO could desirably extend the shelf life of mutton meat during refrigerated storage.