Abstract
RESEARCH BACKGROUND: Recently, natural ingredients have come to the fore instead of synthetic additives in meat and meat products. In this context, the use of propolis extracts, a natural bee product, prepared with different solvents is quite widespread. From this perspective, this study investigates the contribution of ethanolic extract of propolis on the shelf life of beef meatballs and the extent to which it maintains the quality characteristics of the samples during storage at 4 °C. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: In this study, an ethanolic extract of 0.1, 0.3, 0.5 and 1 % of propolis was added to meatball samples. After preparation, the samples were packaged and stored at 4 °C. During storage, the meatball samples were subjected to physicochemical, microbiological and sensory analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The addition of propolis did not affect significantly the water activity values. However, significantly lower pH values were observed during prolonged storage, especially in the samples containing higher amounts of propolis. The addition of propolis also effectively delayed oxidation and there was an amount-dependent decrease in TBARS values. The use of propolis in the preparation of meatballs did not have a significant effect on the initial CIELab parameters of the samples, but changes in a* and b* values were observed at the end of storage compared to the control sample. A significant increase in the total phenolic content as well as the DPPH˙ and ABTS(+) radical scavenging activities of the meatballs was observed depending on the propolis amount. Considering the results of microbiological analysis, it was found that propolis could increase the microbiological quality of the meatballs, but the addition of more than 0.5 % propolis affected the overall acceptability of the samples. NOVELTY AND SCIENTIFIC CONTRIBUTION: As a result, the addition of certain amounts of propolis was found to be a potential alternative to synthetic counterparts that could be used to preserve refrigerated meatballs to delay oxidation and microbial spoilage without affecting the sensory properties of the samples.