Chitosan coatings,with and without clove oil,were investigated for effects on quality and shelf life of cooked pork
sausages stored at a refrigerated temperature (4± 2 °C). The various treatments of cooked pork sausages were:
untreated (control), coatingwith 2% chitosan (CS), and coatingwith a mixture having 2% chitosan and 1.5% clove
oil (CS+CO). Various microbiological, physical, chemical and sensory propertiesweremonitored over 25 days of
storage. The total viable count, the psychrotrophic bacteria count, the L* value, peroxide value and the thiobarbituric
acid reactive substances increased,while the a* value, the b* value, the pH and the sensory scores decreased
with storage time, across all treatments. However, these changes were slowest with the CS + CO treatment.
Based on sensory evaluation and microbiological quality, the shelf lives were 14 days for control, 20 days for
CS, and 20 days for CS + CO treated samples, under refrigerated storage.