ABSTRACT
Background: The properties of plants with food preservation potential are well known since the antiquity.In recent years, the use of herbs and spices to improve the sensory characteristics and to extendthe shelf-life of foods has been growing. Objectives: To compare oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) and sage(Salvia officinalis L.) as a natural antioxidant in balls of chicken breast and added 0.50% salt. Methods:Samples of chicken meatballs were pre-cooked for 8 minutes in a water bath at 80o C, and packaged inpolyethylene bags with three layers, specific for vacuum cooking and high temperatures. The sampleswere separated into three groups: control (just salt), 0.10% oregano (dry plant) and sage 0.10% (dry plant),stored at -20o C for 144 hours. The tests to verify the formation of hexanal in samples were performedin the period of 0, 48, 96 and 144 hours of refrigerated storage. The determination of hexanal, extractedby micro-extraction (headspace solid phase micro-extraction - HS-SPME), was used as an indicator ofthe lipid oxidation of the samples. The analysis was conducted by a gas chromatograph coupled witha mass detector (GC-MS). The method was evaluated according to the validation parameters such aslinearity, repeatability and detection limit. The extraction was conducted at 70o C using a fiber (DVD/ CAR / PDMS) exposed for 20 minutes in the headspace after 5 minutes of equilibrium between thesample and the headspace. Results: Samples added 0.10% oregano or sage had effective protection in thedevelopment of hexanal, compared to control samples. The development of hexanal was significantlyhigher in the control samples, 34 Êg of hexanal/100 g of sample at the beginning and 280 Êg/100 g sampleat the end of refrigerated storage...