# The Effects of Combined _Aloe vera_ Gel and Blended Antioxidants on Cooked Chicken Meat Quality
## 3 Results and Discussion
### Protein Oxidation  
Similarly, the total carbonyl formation was like the TBARSs response, which showed that no considerable variations (\(p>0.05\)) showed up between all treatments on the first storage day. Usually, the overall carbonyl values observed at the beginning of any experiment evaluating cooked meat are very low [35; 36; 37]. On the fourth day of storage, all treatment additives incorporated with _Aloe gel_ exhibited a clear (\(p<0.05\)) anti-carbonyl effect. However, the effectiveness of blend 2 was significantly the highest among all other treatments on day 4 (Table 3).  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c c c c c c} \hline
**Time** & **Control** & **BL1** & **BL2** & **E-250** & **BHA** & **SEM** \\ \hline  & & & & & & \\ \hline Day 0 & 1.027 \({}^{\text{az}}\) & 1.023 \({}^{\text{az}}\) & 1.041 \({}^{\text{ay}}\) & 1.001 \({}^{\text{az}}\) & 1.052 \({}^{\text{ay}}\) & 0.043 \\ Day 4 & 3.287 \({}^{\text{ay}}\) & 1.350 \({}^{\text{by}}\) & 1.214 \({}^{\text{by}}\) & 1.318 \({}^{\text{by}}\) & 1.455 \({}^{\text{by}}\) & 0.073 \\ Day 7 & 6.957 \({}^{\text{ax}}\) & 2.655 \({}^{\text{bx}}\) & 2.248 \({}^{\text{cx}}\) & 2.625 \({}^{\text{bx}}\) & 3.120 \({}^{\text{bx}}\) & 0.152 \\ \hline SEM & 0.132 & 0.065 & 0.074 & 0.052 & 0.145 & \\ \hline \end{tabular} \({}^{\text{a-c}}\)-Values with distinct letters within a row are significantly different (\(p<0.05\)); \(n=4\). \({}^{\text{ax-c}}\)-Values with distinct letters within a column are significantly different (\(p<0.05\)). \({}^{\star}\)_TBARSs value in mg malondialdehydebAg meat_. Treatments: control; BL\({}_{4}\); BL\({}_{2}\); sodium nitrite: E-250; 14 ppm of BHA.  
\end{table}
Table 2: TBARSs values of cooked chicken thigh meat at various storage times at 4 \({}^{\text{ °C}}\).  
The anti-carbonyl effect could be related to the presence of polyphenols from the oil extract, as reported by several investigation studies [37; 38; 39]. On day four of storage, no significant differences (\(p>0.05\)) appeared between blend 1, E-250, and BHA. On the last day of storage, blend 2 (BL\({}_{2}\)) showed the greatest significant (\(p<0.05\)) effect among all additives. However, there were no considerable variations between blend 1, E-250, and BHA on day 7 of storage. In the case of carbonyl formation, the effect of blend 2 was very clear, and this could be related to the effect of a high percentage of oregano oil (150 ppm OE) compared to blend 1 (90 ppm of OE), as well as with the differences in the germander and rosemary oil percentage. The mechanism of the antioxidant effect of these extracts when mixed in combination is still not well understood. However, the poly-hydroxyl group (-OH) found on most of the phenols excited in these plant extracts could be the reason for the reduction in free radicals and carbonyl formation [35; 40; 41]. In addition, _Aloe_ gel also participates in improving plant extract stability and supports its antioxidant effect due to its unique composition. Usually, a high antioxidant effect means that the blend composition and its ingredients work well and interact perfectly with the supporting coating layer of _Aloe gel_ during storage.