10th U6+ Consortium of African Universities International Conference

The increasing demand for healthier ready-to-eat (RTE) meat products with reduced sodium content has intensified research into natural preservatives with antimicrobial and sensory-enhancing properties. This study investigated the effectiveness of chitosan and rosemary extract as natural preservatives in RTE polony by evaluating microbial quality, sensory characteristics and consumer preference. Four polony models were prepared: a control preserved with 20 g/kg conventional salt (P1), and three treatments preserved with natural preservatives: chitosan (P2; 10 g/kg granulated chitosan), rosemary powder (P3; 0.26 g/kg), and a combination of chitosan and rosemary (P4, 10 g/kg granulated chitosan and 0.26 g/kg rosemary powder). These concentrations were based on findings reported by Rinquest et al. (2025). Microbiological analyses were conducted in duplicate and repeated three times using the South African National Standards (SANS) methods for coliforms, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, yeasts and moulds, total viable count (TVC), and Listeria monocytogenes. No growth was detected for coliforms, E. coli, S. aureus, yeasts and moulds, or L. monocytogenes in any treatment. However, TVC results showed reduced microbial loads in the naturally preserved samples compared to the control, with counts of 1.83 log cfu/g for P1, 1.60 log cfu/g for P2, 1.50 log cfu/g for P3, and 1.60 log cfu/g for P4. All polony models complied with legislative microbiological safety limits and were considered suitable for sensory evaluation. Sensory evaluation using a 7-point hedonic scale demonstrated varying consumer preferences among treatments. While 42% of consumers preferred the control sample, the most preferred naturally preserved treatment was the chitosan model (P2), which achieved a preference score of 38%. The findings indicate that chitosan and rosemary extract can improve microbial safety while maintaining acceptable sensory quality in RTE polony products, supporting their potential application as natural preservatives in healthier processed meat formulations.