Thyme and basil essential oils included in edible coatings as a natural preserving method of oilseed kernels

Sunflower seeds are susceptible to developing rancidity and off-flavours through lipid oxidation. Edible coatings and essential oils have proven antioxidant properties in different food products. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the combined effect of using an edible coating and thyme and basil essential oils to preserve the chemical and sensory quality parameters of roasted sunflower seeds during storage.

50% DPPH inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of 0.278 and 0.0997 µg mL(-1) were observed for thyme and basil, respectively. On storage day 40, peroxide values were 80.68, 70.28, 68.43, 49.31 and 33.87 mEq O2 kg(-1) in roasted sunflower seeds (RS), roasted sunflower seeds coated with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) (RS-CMC), roasted sunflower seeds coated with CMC added with basil (RS-CMC-A), thyme (RS-CMC-T) and butylated hydroxytoluene (RS-CMC-BHT), respectively. RS-CMC-T and RS-CMC-BHT presented the lowest peroxide values, conjugated dienes and p-anisidine values during storage. RS-CMC-BHT, RS-CMC-T, and RS-CMC-A showed the lowest oxidized and cardboard flavour intensity ratings. On storage day 40, roasted sunflower flavour intensity ratings were higher in RS-CMC-T and RS-CMC-A.

Thyme and basil essential oils added to the CMC coating improved the sensory stability of this product during storage, but only thyme essential oil increased their chemical stability.