Effects of rosemary and sage tea extracts on the sensory,chemical and microbiological changes of vacuum‐packed and refrigerated sardine (Sardina pilchardus) fillets

The effect of the natural antioxidants and antimicrobials from ethanol extracts of rosemary and sage tea on sensory, chemical [Total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB‐N), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARs), peroxide value (PV), free fatty acid (FFA)] and microbiological (total viable count‐TVC and total coliform count) changes of vacuum‐packaged sardine (Sardina pilchardus) fillets stored at 3 ± 1 °C was investigated for 20 days. The fish fillets were divided into three groups: untreated group (control, C) and treated groups that were immersed in a 1 L of distilled water containing 10 g rosemary (R group) or sage tea (S group) extracts for 4 min. The shelf life of sardine fillets was found to be 13 days for control (C), 20 days for R and S groups according to sensory assessment results, whose corresponded microbiological assessment showed a shorter shelf life (5 days for C group, 9 for R and S groups). At the end of storage period, TBARs values were 0.98 mg malonaldehyde kg^?1 for C group, 0.66 malonaldehyde kg^?1 for R group and 1.44 mg malonaldehyde kg^?1 for S group. Microbiological results showed that natural compounds from rosemary and sage tea resulted in a lower bacterial growth in fish fillets during the storage period.