Effectiveness of Citrus lemon juice's waste essential oil and aqueous phase as a preservative against Salmonella enteritidis in chicken meat

Abstract

Through hydro-distillation of industrial lemon juice waste, the study obtained Citrus lemon's aqueous phase (AP) and essential oil (EO), with the EO yield at approximately 0.89% and a high monoterpene content (50.77% limonene), while the AP contained high total phenols (36.96 ± 1.2 mg g− 1). The EO and AP exhibited Strong bactericidal effects with minimal cidal concentrations values (MCC) ranging from 2.5 to 10 g mL− 1 and 187.5 to 1500 g mL− 1, respectively. The inhibitory efficacy of various concentrations of the EO and AP against a foodborne pathogen belonging to Salmonella enteritidis inoculated in chicken meat showed that AP demonstrated a bacteriostatic effect of 0.25–0.5 and 1 mg AP g− 1 meat. However, the bacterial count (> 102 CFU/25 g meat) rendered it inedible for humans. Additionally, at the maximum concentration (1% v/w), the EO exhibited bactericidal action, but even at the minimum concentration (0.5 v/v EO/v box), the EO vapor action was still the most effective. Sensory analysis indicated that meat treated with the highest concentrations of EO and AP had an unpleasant taste and was discarded. Nonetheless, the study suggests that the AP and EO of lemon juice industrial waste could be a viable alternative to chemical preservatives in the food and pharmaceutical industries.