Antimicrobial effects of pomegranate juice along to chitosan containing Zataria multiflora Boiss essential oil on the frozen chicken meat

Nowadays, consumers are applicant to usage of natural replacements causing to side effects of synthetic preservatives such as carcinogenicity and teratogenicity. This experiment was carried out to introduce a new product resulting from dipping of chicken breast meat in pomegranate fruit juice and chitosan coating enriched with Zataria multiflora Boiss essential oil. Treatments of the present study were the following: control, samples containing pomegranate juice, samples containing chitosan, samples containing pomegranate juice and chitosan, samples containing pomegranate juice and chitosan enriched with essence 1%, samples containing pomegranate juice and chitosan enriched with essence 2%. The samples were stored at -18±1°C for 6 months and microbial analyzed at 0, 2, 4 and 6 months. Population of mesophilic total plate counts, Pseudomonas spp., lactic acid bacteria (LAB), Enterobacteriaceae, Psychrotrophic bacteria and yeasts-molds were significantly (P