Influence of chitosan/clay functional bionanocomposite activated with rosemary essential oil on the shelf life of fresh silver carp

Journal article, 2014

A combination of chitosan biopolymer, nanoclay and rosemary essential oil was prepared as a functional bionanocomposite (FBN). Its ability to improve the shelf life of refrigerated (4 ± 1 °C) silver carp fillets was studied. The fresh fillets were left untreated as a control or coated with chitosan, chitosan/clay bionanocomposite and chitosan/clay/rosemary essential oil (Ch/clay/REO) FBN. Then, they were evaluated for chemical, microbial and sensory properties over 16‐day storage. The samples coated with the FBN had the lowest pH and total volatile basic nitrogen. Ch/clay/REO coating efficiently retarded lipid oxidation by decreasing peroxide, free fatty acid and thiobarbituric acid production in the samples. The coating also reduced total viable and psychrotrophic count of the fillets more than 1.5 log by the end of storage.