Effect of combined chlorogenic acid and chitosan coating on antioxidant, antimicrobial, and sensory properties of snakehead fish in cold storage

Degradation of meat quality has always been a burning issue in fish preservation. To maintain the quality, a novel combination of chlorogenic acid (CGA) and chitosan (CS) coating was applied to snakehead fish fillets. Fish fillets were soaked into 2% chitosan (2CS), 0.2% CGA in 2% chitosan (0.2CGA/2CS), 0.5% CGA in 2% chitosan (0.5CGA/2CS), or 1.0% CGA in 2% chitosan (1.0CGA/2CS) solution; and then, coated samples were vacuum‐packaged and stored at 2 ± 0.5°C. pH values, color values, microbial loads, hardness, sensory qualities, and oxidization of lipids and proteins of stored fish fillets were investigated for 5 months. Antimicrobial activity was found to be nonsignificant (p ≤ .05) among different coated fish fillets, while color, antioxidant, and pH values were significantly (p ≤ .05) different. Lipid oxidation and protein oxidation were found to be inhibited in 2CS‐, 0.5CGA/2CS‐ and 1.0CGA/2CS‐coated fish fillet. All CGA/CS coating delayed increase in pH (p ≤ .05) and resulted brown color. However, only CS coating resulted in higher sensory scores (p ≤ .05) and controlled browning. Considering antioxidant properties and other quality parameters, CGA/CS coating might be applied commercially in fish preservation. Chitosan coating possesses antioxidant and antimicrobial properties in coating fish fillets; the additional CGA further enhanced antioxidant properties but not influence hardness of snakehead fish fillets in preservation. This work implied that CGA/CS coating will enhance the food safety and quality in preservation of fresh fish.