Enhanced Antioxidant Activity of Mugwort Herb and Vitamin C in Combination on Shelf-life of Chicken Nuggets.

The effect of mugwort extract (ME) and vitamin C (VC), added individually or in combination, on color, lipid oxidation, and sensory characteristics of chicken nuggets stored for 12 d was investigated. Eight treatments of chicken nuggets contained the following: Control (no antioxidant added), VC (0.05% VC), ME 0.05 (0.05% ME), ME 0.1 (0.1% ME), ME 0.2 (0.2% ME), VC+ME 0.05 (0.05% VC + 0.05% ME) and VC+ME 0.1 (0.05% VC + 0.1% ME), VC+ME 0.2 (0.05% VC + 0.2% ME). Results showed that the mixture of 0.05% VC and 0.2% ME was most effective for delaying lipid oxidation (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, conjugated dienies, and peroxide formation) when compared to the control or ME alone added. The color values of all treatments were significantly affected by adding ME. Additionally, the total color difference (ΔE), chroma (C*), and hue angle (H°) values of all treatments, except for VC, were lower than those of the control as the amount of ME increased. The sensory characteristics (flavor, odor, and overall acceptability) did not differ significantly in any of the chicken nugget samples, whereas storage time had a significant effect. The results suggest that the possibility of utilizing chicken nuggets with a mixture of mugwort extract and vitamin C for the increase of shelf-life and quality.