Antioxidant and antimicrobial Effects of Pistacia lentiscus L. extracts in pork sausages

Abstract

Pistacia lentiscus fruits are ingredients of traditional Cypriot sausages. The objective of this study is to evaluate P. lentiscus extracts as natural additives to the sausages. First, the phenolic content and antioxidant activity of fruit and leaf extracts were determined. Re-sults revealed that leaves are richer source of polyphenolic antioxidants than fruits, with methanol being the be t er extraction solvent. In the next step, the antioxidant and antimi-crobial effects of methanolic extracts (300 mg/kg) in the pork sausage formulation were in-vestigated. Peroxide, acid and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance values demonstrated that both fruit and leaf extracts reduced the rate of lipid oxidation of sausages at 4 °C. Total viable count revealed signifi cant differences on the fi f h day of storage, with be t er micro-bial inhibition by leaf extract. No signifi cant differences between the extracts were ob-served af er the tenth day of storage. Overall, the extracts can be used to prevent lipid oxi-dation and reduce microbial spoilage during the fi rst days of storage of fresh traditional pork sausages.