Shelf-life extension and quality attributes of sauced silver carp fillet: A comparison among direct addition, edible coating and biodegradable film

- ZEO and APE can be used as excellent types of food additive.
- SA-CMC film and coating can be used as excellent types of active packaging.
- Combination of ZEO and APE led to strong antibacterial activity.

Nowadays, antimicrobial packaging materials is attracting remarkable attention as one of the preferred emerging technologies to prevent the development and spread of spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms via food foodstuffs. The aim of the present study was to incorporate Ziziphora clinopodioides essential oil (ZEO; 0 and 0.5%), apple peel extract (APE; 0 and 1%) and zinc oxide nanoparticle (ZnO; 0 and 0.5%) into sauced silver carp fillet using three techniques including direct addition, edible coating and composite film based on sodium alginate-carboxymethylcellulose (SA-CMC) to increase the shelf life (microbial, chemical and sensory properties) and inhibit the growth of Listeria monocytogenes during refrigerated storage over a period of two weeks. The fillet coated with ZEO 0.5% + APE 1% + ZnO 0.5% significantly exhibited the lowest bacterial population for the entire of storage period (P < 0.05). All treated samples tended to retard the increases in total volatile base nitrogen, trimethyl-amine nitrogen, pH and peroxide value. ZEO 0.5% + APE 1% + ZnO 0.5% and ZEO 0.5% + APE 1% showed the best sensory attributes (odor, color and overall acceptability). It can be concluded that the SA-CMC coatings or films enriched with ZEO 0.5% + APE 1% + ZnO 0.5% and ZEO 0.5% + APE 1% can be used as appropriate active packaging materials to preserve sauced silver carp fillets.