Background: Edible films and coatings have potential benefits for food packaging, particularly meat products. These coatings prevent weight loss and texture changes during shelf life by reducing moisture loss in fresh and frozen meat products. In this study, effect of calcium alginate edible coating on microbial and chemical properties of refrigerated lamb meat over a period of  5 days was investigated.

Methods: The control and coated samples were analyzed for microbial properties including total microbial count, psychrophilic bacteria count and chemical characteristics such as total volatile nitrogen (TVN) and moisture content. The experiments were conducted in triplicates and data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 16.0) by two-way ANOVA and general linear model with repeated-measurements.

Results: There was a significant (p<0.05) difference between the samples coated with calcium alginate and control samples in total microbial count during 5 days but, there was no significant difference in psychrophilic bacteria count and moisture content. Besides, a significant reduction (p<0.05) was observed for the coated and control samples in TVN content on day 3. After 5 days of storage at 4±1 ^°C, TVN levels did not exceed the maximum standard limit (16.5 mg/100 g) in all coated samples.

Conclusion: The results of this study confirmed effectiveness of calcium alginate in improving the microbial and chemical properties and shelf life extension of lamb meat.