PREPARATION OF CLOVE BUDS DEODORIZED AQUEOUS EXTRACT (CDAE) AND EVALUATION OF ITS POTENTIAL TO IMPROVE OXIDATIVE STABILITY OF CHICKEN MEATBALLS IN COMPARISON TO SYNTHETIC AND NATURAL FOOD ANTIOXIDANTS KIM WEI CHAN 1,2,4 , NICHOLAS M.H. KHONG 1 , SHAHID IQBAL 3 , SOO EE CH’NG 2 and ABDUL SALAM BABJI 2 1 Laboratory of Molecular Biomedicine, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia 2 Food Science Programme, School of Chemical Sciences and Food Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, National University of Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia 3 Department of Chemistry, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan 4 Corresponding author. TEL: +603-89472145; FAX: +603-89472116; EMAIL: chankw_antioxidant@yahoo.com; chankw@ibs.upm.edu.my Received for Publication February 17, 2011 Accepted for Publication February 27, 2012 doi:10.1111/j.1745-4557.2012.00445.x ABSTRACT Antioxidative properties of prepared clove buds deodorized aqueous extract (CDAE) in chicken meatballs are studied. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were found to be 271.9  12.0 mg gallic acid equivalent per gram and 161.6  7.7 mg rutin equivalent per gram CDAE, respectively. Chicken meatball samples were: (1) C (control, i.e., without CDAE), and those supplemented with 200 ppm of; (2) T1 (CDAE); (3) T2 (ascorbic acid); and (4) T3 (butylated hydroxya- nisole [BHA] : butylated hydroxytoluene [BHT] = 1:1). Oxidative stability was assessed by measuring peroxide value (PV) and 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive sub- stances (TBARS) besides determination of color and sensory acceptability, over 12 days of chilled storage (8  1C). All the treated samples showed higher induction period as well as lower PV and TBARS values than “C” throughout 12 days of storage (*P < 0.05).Color analysis showed that CDAE greatly improved redness of meatballs as compared with ascorbic acid and BHA-BHT (*P < 0.05). Meanwhile, hedonic test indicated that treatment T1 did not affect sensory acceptability of chicken meatballs for all the tested attributes (color, aroma, taste, texture and overall acceptance) (*P > 0.05) up to comparable extent with T2 and T3. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS The study provides a valuable method for the preparation of meatballs by replacing harmful synthetic antioxidants with natural ones with promising antioxidant and shelf-life potential besides maintaining sensory attributes. This adaptation may result in massively enhanced consumption of these meatballs with disease- preventive and health-promoting effects. The main hurdle in commercialization of spicy meatballs is the pungent smell of spices as well as use of toxic organic solvents for extraction. The problem has been overcome by developing a method for the preparation of deodorized extracts in aqueous medium, which may significantly enhance the commercialization potential of meatballs and meatball-based functional foods. Journal of Food Quality ISSN 1745-4557 190 Journal of Food Quality 35 (2012) 190–199 © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.