Effect of cinnamon essential oil on the microbiological and physiochemical characters of fresh Italian style sausage during storage.

In order to study the effect of cinnamon essential oil (CEO) on the microbiological and physiochemical characters of fresh Italian style sausage, CEO (0%, 0.1%, and 0.5%, v/w) was added into ground meat, cased, and stored at 4°C. Lipid oxidation, instrument color, total viable aerobic counts, Enterobacteriaceae, biogenic amines, and total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) were investigated during 10 days (day). Results showed that CEO treatments had lower thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), b* value, aerobic and Enterobacteriaceae counts, biogenic amine contents, and TVB-N and higher a* values at 4, 6, 8, and 10 days compared to the control, whereas 0.5% CEO treatment had better effect than 0.1% CEO. CEO improved color shelf-life by inhibiting lipid oxidation and prevented the increase in biogenic amines and TVB-N by reducing microbial counts of fresh sausage during storage. This study suggested that CEO could be applied in the food industry to improve the shelf-life of meat products.