An attempt was made to evaluate the quality of chicken balls wrapped in edible films with sodium alginate (T 1 ), sodium alginate incorporated with 1% Clove oil (T 2 ), and sodium alginate incorporated with 1% Cinnamon oil (T 3 ) and were analyzed at regular intervals of 5 days and 15 days under refrigeration (4±1⁰C) and frozen storage temperatures (-18±1⁰C) respectively. Films were formed and tested for their thickness and grammature which were 362mm and 0.763kg/m 2 respectively. The values of

more »

... pH, TBA, PV, TPC and per cent water loss of the wrapped Chicken balls increased significantly (P<0.05) during the storage period for all the treatment groups, but the rate of increase was at a lower level in essential oil incorporated formulations when compared to control and sodium alginate film wrapped ones. They were well acceptable up to 15 days under refrigerated storage and up to 75 days under frozen temperature. The products wrapped in the films revealed significantly (P<0.05) lower total plate counts when compared to unwrapped controls irrespective of type of oil incorporated. The films were tested for their antimicrobial ability against various antibiotics utilizing the film as the disc. The zone of inhibition was significantly higher for clove oil incorporated film when compared to cinnamon oil incorporated film. The present study demonstrated that clove oil and cinnamon oil can be successfully incorporated into biodegradable sodium alginate films and can exhibit excellent antioxidant and antimicrobial activities as a part of active packaging, to extend the shelf life of the product.