Phytochemical characterization, and antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of white cabbage extract on the quality and shelf life of raw beef during refrigerated storage† Momna Rubab, a Ramachandran Chelliah, a Kandasamy Saravanakumar, b Jong-Rae Kim, ac Daesang Yoo, ad Myeong-Hyeon Wang b and Deog-Hwan Oh * a Brassica vegetables are well-characterized, containing a wide-spectrum of phenolic compounds that are responsible for their diverse biological activities like antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. This study explored the preservative effect of Brassica oleracea var. capitate f. alba (white cabbage; WC) on beef under refrigerated conditions for 16 days. The antimicrobial activities of WC were evaluated against foodborne pathogenic bacteria and fungi. The antioxidant activity was determined on the basis of total phenolic and flavonoid contents, through employing DPPH and ABTS assays. The chemical composition was analyzed by GC-MS analysis. The results indicated that among the different solvent extracts, white cabbage chloroform extract [WCCE] exhibited outstanding bioactive properties due to the presence of 4-nitro-3-(trifluoromethyl)phenol, and the effects of WCCE at different levels (A and B) on the quality and shelf life of beef in storage were evaluated. The color parameters (lightness, yellowness, and redness), texture analysis, and pH values were monitored constantly with 4 days interval, and microbial analysis was conducted. The results showed that WCCE-A treatment significantly reduced the total viable counts, psychrotrophic bacteria, and yeast-molds when compared with WCCE-B and control during refrigeration storage, with the activity varying in a dose-dependent manner (p < 0.05). Significantly, the WCCE-A treatments had better appearance compared with the control after 16 days of storage. All results confirmed that WCCE which is rich in bioactive compounds, effectively maintains the quality of beef compared to the control by retarding lipid oxidation and microbial growth at refrigeration temperature and also emphasize the potential applications of this plant in different industrial sectors. 1. Introduction Meat is a staple food, providing proteins of high nutritional value and a high content of essential minerals and vitamin B. 1 Fresh meat and meat products are generally merchandised at cold temperatures (2–5  C). 2 Meat products commonly spoil during refrigeration because of microbial growth and oxidative rancidity together with biochemical and enzymatic deteriora- tion. 3,4 This microbial growth and oxidative rancidity brings about undesirable changes in organoleptic properties, off- avors, discoloration, gas production, and alteration in pH. 3,5 Antimicrobial and antioxidant agents are used to delay, retard, or prevent microbial spoilage and other deteriorations. So, nowadays people are showing greater interest in safety foods that contain bioactive or functional components which will give additional benets to their health status. The antimicrobials and antioxidants added in meat products are mainly synthetic. 6 Despite the proven efficiency of these chemical preservatives in the food and feed chain, the acquisition of microbial resistance to the utilized chemicals and unsightly side effects of those chemicals on human health. 7 Unlike synthetic compounds, natural extracts obtained from plants rich in phenolic compounds have been reported to be more active and can enhance the overall quality of food by decreasing lipid oxidation and microbial growth. 7,8 In this regard, various plants have been investigated scientically as antimicrobial and antioxidants in foodstuff. 9–11 In addition, these plant extracts considered nutritionally safe and easily degradable. 8 At present, vegetables attain substantial importance among the possible added a Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, 200-701, South Korea. E-mail: deoghwa@kangwon.ac.kr b Department of Medical Biotechnology, College of Biomedical Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, 200-701, South Korea c Hanmi Natural Nutrition Co., LTD, 44-20, Tongil-ro 1888 beon-gil, Munsan, Paju, Gyeonggi, South Korea d H-FOOD, 108-66, 390 gil, Jingun Oh Nam-Ro, Nam Yang, Ju-Shi, Gyung Gi-Do, South Korea † Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/d0ra06727j Cite this: RSC Adv. , 2020, 10, 41430 Received 4th August 2020 Accepted 20th September 2020 DOI: 10.1039/d0ra06727j rsc.li/rsc-advances 41430 | RSC Adv. , 2020, 10, 41430–41442 This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2020 RSC Advances PAPER Open Access Article. Published on 13 November 2020. Downloaded on 8/11/2021 4:17:33 PM. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. View Article Online View Journal | View Issue