Antioxidant and antimicrobial capacity of Chinese medicinal herb extracts in raw sheep meat

Antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of 10 Chinese medicinal herb extracts were evaluated by dipping raw sheep meat in extracts, packaging the samples in polyethylene, and refrigerating them at 4 degrees C. The optimum concentrations of Codonopsis pilosula, Platycodon grandiflorum, Artemisia capillaris, Cinnamomum cassia, Rheum palmatum, Ziziphus jujuba, Gardenia jasminoides, Santalum album, Angelica sinensis, and Bletilla striata were 0.10, 0.10, 0.25, 0.10, 0.25, 0.25, 0.25, 0.10, 0.25, and 0.25%, respectively. Analysis revealed that test ingredients were more effective in reducing lipid oxidation and microbial counts in raw sheep meat. Correlation analysis revealed a significant negative linear relationship between the inhibition of hydroxyl and lipid oxidation, and inhibition of hydroxyl was the main factor affecting lipid oxidation. A. capillaris (0.25%), C. pilosula (0.10%), and P. grandiflorum (0.10%) were identified as the most effective antioxidants. S. album (0.10%), A. capillaris (0.10%), and C. cassia (0.10%) were the most effective antimicrobials. A. capillaris (0.25%), C. pilosula (0.10%), and P. grandiflorum (0.10%) increased meat redness significantly (P < 0.05) when compared with the control samples on days 0, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, and 11. The pH values of sheep meat treated with C. pilosula (0.10%) and A. capillaris (0.10%) were lower than those of meat treated with other extracts.