The effect of a Mixture of wild Lavandula stoechas and Vitex agnus – castus Oil on Total Bacterial Number and Organoleptic Characteristics of Stored by Cooling Fresh Red Meat

Abstract

The study aimed to reveal the changes that occur in the numbers of bacteria contaminating red meat during storage and to apply some techniques of prolonging storage using the combinations influence of oil extracted from the Lavandula stoechas and Vitex agnus – castus, where the addition was done at a concentration of 1% and stored for a period of (1-24-48) hours in the refrigerator at a temperature. 4 m ͦ  Some organoleptic characteristics of the meat samples preserved with Lavandula stoechas and Vitex agnus – castus oil were also investigated under study, and the results showed the following:

The addition of a mixture of  Lavandula stoechas oil and Vitex agnus – castus to the red meat produced a significant decrease (P<0.01) in bacterial numbers. It was also found that the inherent activity of the essential oils may not depend exclusively on the proportion in which the main active ingredients are present, but on the interactions between these components and minor components. In oils as well, where several synergistic activities against micro-organisms of components or parts of the essential oils were confirmed when tested in binary groups, and the results of the sensory evaluation indicated an improvement in the palatability properties of red meat with the added double oil of Lavandula stoechas and Vitex agnus – castus (flavor, juiciness, tenderness and general acceptance).