Effect of gelatin coating incorporated with cinnamon oil on the quality of fresh rainbow trout in cold storage

Cinnamon essential oil was used in gelatin coatings to maintain the quality of refrigerated rainbow trout fillets over a period of 20 days. Fish fillets were coated with a solution of 4% gelatin incorporated with cinnamon essential oil and then stored in refrigerator (4 ± 1 °C). Coating’s preservative effect was assessed periodically (every 5 days) by microbial analyses (aerobic plate count and psychrotrophic count), chemical determinations (total volatile basic nitrogen, thiobarbituric acid, free fatty acid) and sensory characteristics. When gelatin coating with cinnamon applied to the preservation of trout fillets, a reduction in the growth of total bacteria was observe after 15 days of storage. Fish fillets with gelatin coating containing 1%, 1.5% and 2% v/v cinnamon oil produced significantly lower (P < 0.05) total volatile basic nitrogen then gelatin‐coated fillets and control until 15 days of storage period (35, 22.86, 30.33, 57.76 and 53.26 mg per 100 g of fillet, respectively). The obtained results indicate that gelatin in the form of coating enriched with cinnamon oil is suitable for the preservation of rainbow trout fresh fillets and to efficiently maintain the quality attributes to an acceptable level during storage.