Stable encapsulation of thyme essential oil nanoemulsions by TGase-modified potato protein: application in chicken breast preservation
摘要
Objective of this study was to develop thyme essential oil nanoemulsions (tPTNs) by TGase-modified potato protein for the preservation of chicken breast inoculated with Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli). Results indicated that D[3,2] and D[4,3] of tPTNs were within 160 and 245 nm, respectively, while the encapsulation efficiencies (EE) were maintained above 96%. It was found that tPTNs were more stable during storage, especially at 4 °C, maintaining the highest EE, the lowest size, and the most uniform distribution. It could be found sufficient evidences from the characterization of secondary and tertiary structures of proteins. Chicken breast treated with tPTNs maintained the lowest colonies of S. aureus (6.16–7.43 Log10 CFU/g) and E. coli (6.09–7.53 Log10 CFU/g) during a 7-day storage period, which indicated that tPTNs possessed excellent antibacterial effect on chicken breast. Furthermore, the lower pH and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARs) values, the superior sulfhydryl group and texture properties also confirmed that tPTNs exhibited great preservative effect of chicken breast with strong resistance to lipid and protein oxidation during storage.