Natural Preservatives for Chicken Block

A study is planned to find out the efficacy of certain plant leaves and fruits¿ powder as natural preservatives especially as antioxidants on the quality and shelf life of restructured chicken block. Addition of leaves (drumstick, mint and curry leaves) and fruits (red grapes, gooseberry and tomato) powder did not have any undesirable effects on the physicochemical and sensory attributes of restructured chicken slices. Leaves and fruits powder have potent natural preservative effects to augment the shelf life of restructured chicken slices from ten days to twenty days and could replace the synthetic antioxidants effectively. Powder from Drumstick leaves and gooseberry were found to have better antioxidant effects on restructured chicken slices under refrigerated storage. Among the leaves, Drumstick and among the fruits, gooseberry were found to have substantial desirable effects on the physicochemical, microbiological and sensory attributes of the product under refrigerated storage. Therefore these plant leaves and fruits can be commercially promoted for preservation of meat and meat products.