The Role of Lemon Grass Oil and Its Nano Emulsion on Shelf Life of Meat Balls and Studying Their Pathological Effects on Rats

Elsherif, Walaa M.; Ali, Dina N.; El Hendy, Abeer H. M.; Elnisr, Neven A.

doi:10.21608/ejvs.2025.371655.2737

The Role of Lemon Grass Oil and Its Nano Emulsion on Shelf Life of Meat Balls and Studying Their Pathological Effects on Rats

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Dean of Faculty of Health Sciences Technology, New Assiut Technological University (NATU), New Assiut, Egypt.

² Certified Food Hygiene Lab., Animal Health Research Institute (AHRI), Agriculture Research Center (ARC), Egypt.

³ Pathology Department, Agriculture Research Center (ARC), Animal Health Research Institute (AHRI), Assiut Lab. Assiut, Egypt.

10.21608/ejvs.2025.371655.2737

Abstract

Lemongrss oil (LGO) is an aromatic herb; a rich source of citric acid, vitamin C, and phenolic compounds used as natural antioxidant and antibacterial agents in food processing but because of its distinctive citrus aroma it was transformed it into a nano emulsion. FTIR, PDI and TEM were used for nano emulsion characterization and we compared its antioxidant and antibacterial activity on sensory, chemical (pH, thiobarbituric acid reactive substance "TBARS and total volatile nitrogen "TVN") and microbiological (aerobic plate count "APC", total coliform count, total yeast and mold count and psychrotrophic count) quality of meat balls during cold storage at 4º C. The effects were studied. Sensory analysis indicated that 0.5% of lemon grass nano emulsion was the best concentration while chemical and microbiological analyses indicated significant advantages in using lemon grass and its nano emulsion at 1% concentration. In addition, we investigated the biochemical and histopathological effects of lemongrass oil extract and its nano emulsion post oral administration in vivo, and the results revealed that the lower concentration of 0.5% of lemongrass nano emulsion can be considered relatively safer than the higher concentration of 1% on glandular stomach, liver and kidney of tested rats.

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