Acta Scientiarum Polonorum Technologia Alimentaria

Background. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) extracts have a potent antioxidant and antibacterial activity and are widely used in the food industry. The effect of added rosemary preparations on the microbiological quality and process of lipid oxidation of model pork batters, immediately after preparation (“0”) and 1, 3 and 7 days of chill-storage (4-6°C) was analysed in the study.

Material and methods. Experiments were conducted with three types of rosemary preparations, i.e.: dried spice, essential oil and a commercial preparation (TasteGuard P).
The experimental material consisted of meat batter produced from porcine musculus longissimus dorsi and water. Microbiological examinations covered determinations of the total count of mesophilic aerobic microorganisms, psychrophilic bacteria, coliforms and enterococci. In turn, chemical analyses involved determination of the TBARS value.

Results. The rosemary preparations did not exhibit either antibacterial properties against aerobic mesophilic or psychrophilic bacteria. The essential rosemary oil was observed to inhibit the growth of coliform bacteria and enterococci, whereas the dried spice examined was found to increase the counts of aerobic mesophilic bacteria, coliforms and enterococci. None of the rosemary preparations terminated the lipid oxidation process.

Conclusions. The results obtained in this study point to the necessity of continuing investigations to determine the dose of rosemary preparations that would inhibit the growth of microflora being the most frequent cause of raw materials and products spoilage and, simultaneously, restrict oxidation of their lipids.