Antimicrobial and antioxidant effects of red onion (Allium cepa) on unrefrigerated broiler chicken meat

Abstract

This study was to determine the keeping quality of raw broiler chicken meat laced with red onions (Allium cepa) as a means of preservation in comparism with refrigeration. Eighteen (18) broiler chickens were purchased from a reputable poultry farm in Akure and humanely slaughtered. Thirty three thigh samples were aseptically collected, weighed and assigned to treatments with three replicates per treatment using a completely randomized design. The samples in the control group were refrigerated; another group was laced with 150 g of freshly diced red onions per kg of meat; while the last group was not refrigerated and without onions. Samples in the different treatments were kept over a storage period of 36 hours and analyzed for the keeping quality by determining the microbial status and lipid stability at 12 hour interval basis. The length of storage period and methods of preservation had significant (p<0.05) influence on microbial load and oxidative stability of the meat samples. The bacterial load of unrefrigerated samples without onions was the highest (300.00 ± 20.21 cfu/g, 320.00 ± 22.23 cfu/g and 320.00 ± 24.21 cfu/g) throughout the storage period. The unrefrigerated samples without onions showed least oxidative stability during storage with TBARS values of 3.71 ± 0.09 mgMDA/kg meat at 12 hours, 4.66 ± 0.12 mgMDA/kg meat at 24 hours and 8.29 ± 0.14 mgMDA/kg meat at 36 hours. The study suggests that diced red onion can be used to preserve chicken meat up to 12 hours of storage to retain its quality for human consumption.

Keywords: Bacterial load, Broiler meat, Oxidative stability, Red onion