## 3 Results and Discussion
### Microbiological Quality of Chicken Meatballs
Among the sage preparations added to the chicken meatballs, both ethanol extracts (SEE40 and SEE70) and sage essential oil (SEO) most effectively inhibited the growth of LAB. Throughout the storage period, i.e., on days 1, 7, and 14, the number of LAB was significantly (\(p<0.05\)) lower in SEE40, SEE70, and SEO products than in the control. A significant (\(p<0.05\)) increase in the number of LAB was observed between days 1 and 14 in the control, SD, and SEE40 products, and between days 7 and 14 in the SEO products. Evaluation of the results of all microbial tests led to the assumption that sage preparations contributed to improving the safety of chicken meatballs containing MSM from chickens, which are baked, vacuum-packed, and refrigerated. Of the various sage preparations used in the study, both sage ethanol extracts and sage essential oil exhibited the best antimicrobial activity. According to the current state of knowledge, the antimicrobial properties of plant preparations are linked to the presence of different bioactive compounds. Sage has been known to have a high potential to inhibit the growth of microorganisms in meat products [13; 52]. RTE poultry products are particularly susceptible to the growth of different microorganisms that cause spoilage such as psychrotrophs and LAB. As emphasized by [PERSON] et al. [2], due to the desirable properties of plant preparations, many researchers and producers are interested in using them in the preparation of convenient meat products. In general, plant preparations have a very complex composition, and their antimicrobial activity cannot be attributed to a single chemical compound. On the contrary, their complex composition and antimicrobial activity can be due--similar to antioxidant activity--to a whole range of chemical compounds [13; 24; 52]. Studies on the chemical composition and antimicrobial properties of selected essential oils against selected bacterial strains have shown that sage oil contains the largest amounts of compounds such as camphor, linalo, R(+)limonene, and carvacrol. Regarding antimicrobial activity, sage essential oil at the tested concentration showed a growth-inhibitory effect (minimum inhibitory concentration) against most of the analyzed Gram-positive bacteria, while among Gram-negative bacteria only _Proteus_ bacteria were susceptible to its activity. The bactericidal activity (minimum bactericidal concentration) of sage essential oil was noted only against some of the tested Gram-positive cocci. Previous studies have qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed ethanol extracts from sage, similar to those used in this study [31]. The following acids were identified at the highest amounts in those extracts: rosemary acid (0.616-0.650 mg/mL), \(p\)-coumaric acid (0.256-0.258 mg/mL), and benzoic acid (0.070-0.072 mg/mL). Some other researchers have also identified the same acids as well as other bioactive compounds in sage preparations [28; 53]. Furthermore, these authors determined the antimicrobial activity of sage essential oils against seven various microbial strains using the disc diffusion method. The obtained test results indicated that the antimicrobial activity of sage essential oils against the tested bacteria slightly varied depending on the method of preparation. Another work [30] that analyzed the quality of chicken burgers showed that an aqueous sage extract showed antimicrobial potential. As in the present study, the growth inhibition efficiency of this extract differed between the studied bacterial groups. [PERSON] and [PERSON] [27] demonstrated the antibacterial activity of various sage preparations, i.e., dried spice, water extract, and ethanol extract, in the model product of pork minced meat. As in our study, dried sage showed the weakest antimicrobial activity, which was evidenced by the higher count of psychotrophic microorganisms from the Enterobacteriaceae family and enterococci compared to other products.