Effect of adding coriander seed essential oil on some characteristics of ground lamb inoculated with Listeria innocua during storage

The effect of coriander seed essential oil on pH, moisture content, color indices (L*, a*, b*) and sensory characteristics (appearance, odor, and overall acceptability) of ground lamb mutton inoculated with Listeria innocua at various temperatures (4, 10, 25 and 37 °C) during 8 days storage were investigated. The effect of simultaneous day and temperature on the pH and moisture content of the samples was statistically significant (P<0.05). The highest and the lowest pH were observed on the 8th day and 37 °C in the sample containing essential oil (8.50±0.01) and 10 °C (5.85±0.01), respectively. In addition, the highest moisture content was recorded in the control sample on the first day (80.42±1.03%) and the lowest moisture content was observed in the sample containing essential oil on the 8th day at 37 °C (74.68±0.14%). The lightness (L) of the samples decreased during storage days and various temperatures and the highest lightness was on the first day and 4 °C (39.88±0.33) and the lowest brightness was observed to the control sample on the 8th day and 37 °C (8.70±0.06). The redness (a*) of the samples decreased during different days and temperatures so that the most redness was recorded on the first day and 4 °C (13.50±0.18) and the least redness was on the control sample on the 8th day and 37 ° C (-2.72±0.16). The results of the sensory evaluation showed that the appearance, odor, and overall acceptability of the samples decreased during the storage period and at different temperatures, but the samples containing essential oil and stored at a lower temperature were more acceptable. The findings of this study showed that the use of coriander seed essential oil preserves more of the characteristics of lamb at lower storage temperatures.