# Use of Black Pepper Essential Oil to Produce a Healthier Chicken Pate
## 3 Results and Discussion
### Phenols, Flavonoids, and Antioxidant Activity (FRAP Method)  
Phenols and flavonoids content is presented in Table 6. Phenol content was significantly different between formulations. The Control presented the lowest value, V1 and V2 had higher values and were not significantly different, and V3 presented the highest. Samples evaluated at T23 presented higher values than at T2, particularly evident in V3. This increase can be due to non-controlled fermentations promoted by microorganisms, such as mesophiles, for example, that occurred in the gates during the storage time that converted phenolics of different classes into compounds that are often more bioactive, leading to a higher phenolic content [71].  
Flavonoid content had a small but significant (_p_ < 0.05) increase from T2 to T23, probably due to the same reason as phenols. Results show significant differences between formulations. It was observed that the Control, with the lowest, and V1 samples, with the highest, were significantly different. V2 and V3 samples were not significantly different from one or the other.  
The antioxidant activity evaluated by the FRAP method (Table 6) revealed a significant decrease in the antioxidant activity from T2 to T23. Formulations presented significantly different antioxidant activity. V3 samples had the highest antioxidant activity, followed by V2, which was not significantly different from V3, then, V1, which was not significantly different from V2. Finally, Control samples had the lowest antioxidant activity. These results were expected, given the BPEO and BG antioxidant properties [5]. It should be noted that in samples V2 and V3, antioxidant activity increased over the storage period.  
Control values of phenols, flavonoids, and antioxidant activity are mostly probable due to extra-virgin olive oil, which confers those properties [72].  
Phenols are suggested to provide plant extracts [68] and essential oils [73] with antimicrobial properties.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l l l l l} \hline \hline
**Time** & **Formulation** & **Phenols \({}^{\ddagger}\)** & **Flavonoids \(\ddagger\)** &
\begin{tabular}{l} **Antioxidant Activity** \\ **(FRAP)**\({}^{\ddagger}\) \\ \end{tabular} \\ \hline T2 & Control & 0.143 \(\pm\) 0.0103 & 0.0195 \(\pm\) 0.000734 & 1.95 \(\pm\) 0.0486 \\ T2 & V1 & 0.165 \(\pm\) 0.0063 & 0.0207 \(\pm\) 0.000805 & 2.11 \(\pm\) 0.0433 \\ T2 & V2 & 0.177 \(\pm\) 0.0192 & 0.0196 \(\pm\) 0.003356 & 2.09 \(\pm\) 0.0443 \\ T2 & V3 & 0.191 \(\pm\) 0.0053 & 0.0197 \(\pm\) 0.001934 & 2.03 \(\pm\) 0.0661 \\ T23 & Control & 0.130 \(\pm\) 0.0043 & 0.0187 \(\pm\) 0.001226 & 1.58 \(\pm\) 0.0472 \\ T23 & V1 & 0.193 \(\pm\) 0.0313 & 0.0249 \(\pm\) 0.002305 & 2.00 \(\pm\) 0.0705 \\ T23 & V2 & 0.178 \(\pm\) 0.0199 & 0.0199 \(\pm\) 0.001134 & 2.12 \(\pm\) 0.0438 \\ T23 & V3 & 0.287 \(\pm\) 0.0505 & 0.0207 \(\pm\) 0.002410 & 2.27 \(\pm\) 0.0721 \\ \hline Significance & & & & \\ \hline Time & & ** & NS & ** \\ Formulation & & *** & * & *** \\ Time \(\times\) Formulation & & ** & NS & *** \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* NS not significant, \({}^{\ddagger}\) \(p\) < 0.05, **_p_ < 0.01, ***_p_ < 0.001. \({}^{\ddagger}\) mg eq. of gallic acid/g of sample; \({}^{\ddagger}\) mg eq. of Quercetin/g of sample; \({}^{\ddagger}\) mg eq. Fe II/g of sample.  
\end{table}
Table 6: Phenols and flavonoids content, and antioxidant activity evaluated by FRAP method in the chicken patés.  
Globally, the results from this study indicate that the use of BPEO and BG can confer functional properties to meat products, which give added value and help promote their consumption considering the clean label trend, where consumers prefer healthier, more natural meat products with fewer additives.