A comparative study was undertaken to evaluate the antimicrobial and antioxidant efficacy of
Rosemary oil (RO), Oregano oil (OO), and Thyme oil (TO)on physico-chemical, microbial, and
sensory attributes of chicken nuggets. Chicken nuggets were formulated with the addition of a pre-
standardized level of 0.1% essential oils of RO(T 1 ),OO(T 2 ), TO(T 3 ),along with a control. Fresh
chicken nugget developed were analyzed for various physico-chemical (emulsion product pH,
emulsion stability, product yield, shear force value, proximate analysis, calorific value, DPPH
scavenging activity, total phenolic content, fatty acid composition)and sensory parameters. The
physic-chemical, proximate analysis, fatty acid composition and sensory attributes of treatment
groups were significantly (p<0.05) higher than control. In order to evaluate the antimicrobial
efficacy of essential oil, the aerobically packed chicken nuggets were subjected to storage studies
viz., product pH, free fatty acids, DPPHs cavenging activity, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances
value, tyrosine value, microbiological and sensory parameters for 35day’s at 7day’s interval under
refrigerated condition. As the storage period progresses the quality attributes gradually and
significantly (p<0.05) decreases, but were well within the limits of acceptability. Thus it is
concluded that among the three different essential oils used, 0.1% level of thyme oil added to
chicken nuggets was found to be optimum and it can be effectively stored up to 28day’s under
refrigerated conditions (4±1˚C) without marked loss in storage quality.