## 3 Results and Discussion
### Color and pH  
The pH value could be used as the indicator of meat quality which is affected by microbiological changes and various chemical reaction including oxidation. Both factors: Time and treatments had significant effects on the pH values (Table 4). The values of pH of all samples decreased (up to 5 th day for control sample and up to 7 th day of storage for extract-treated samples), thereafter increased sharply showing the maximum on day 10, and decreased again. This increase was the most pronounced in the control sample (maximum pH = 7.32). The sharp increase of pH could be an effect of protein oxidation, and the production of ammonia (by utilization of amino acids by spoilage microorganisms) as storage progresses [9]. The initial level of pH in the control samples was similar to that reported by [41]. However others [9] observed an increase of pH values of raw chicken meat over storage period. Generally, the addition of extracts decreased pH values when comparing to control sample, and the lowest pH values were observed for the sample containing cardamom (Table 4). Similar observations have also been made by [9] who reported that the addition of clove extract decreased pH values in comparison to control samples. The effect was ascribed to the antimicrobial activity of compounds found in clove extract which could inhibit the growth and proliferation of spoilage microorganisms that metabolize basic nitrogen compounds [9]. Table 4 contains the results of the instrumental color measurements using L*a*b* color space. All color parameters (L*, a*, b*) were significantly affected by the treatments (\(p\) = 0.00, F test) and storage time (\(p\) = 0.01, F test). The lightness of all treated samples (except cardamom) was lower than the control one at each day of the analysis. The highest decrease of L* parameter was observed for clove- and black seed-treated chicken meat. This affected the sensory evaluation of color of these meat samples by the panelist (see below Section 3.6). Similar results were obtained by [41] who reported lower L* values of raw chicken meat samples containing acorn when comparing to control sample. However, others [9] reported significant higher lightness of raw chicken samples with clove extracts in comparison to control sample which is contrary to the results obtained in this study. Figure 4: Effect of various spice extract treatments on the thiol group (SH) content in raw ground chicken legs stored at 4 °C. Means with the various superscript within the same day are significantly different (\(p\)\(\leq\) 0.05, Duncan’s test). Vertical bars indicate 0.95 confidence intervals. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Storage Days** & **Control** & **Nutmeg** & **Allspice** & **Bay Leaf** & **Black Seed** & **Cloves** & **Caraway** & **Cardamamam** \\ \hline  & 0 & 6.33 \(\pm\) 0.01  & 6.22 \(\pm\) 0.01  \\  & 3 & 6.24 \(\pm\) 0.01  & 6.20 \(\pm\) 0.02  & 6.19 \(\pm\) 0.06  \\  & 7 & 6.17 \(\pm\) 0.04  & 6.07 \(\pm\) 0.01  \\  & 7 & 3.22 \(\pm\) 0.22  & 6.58 \(\pm\) 0.01 [FOOTNOTE:]Footnote : All values are mean \(\pm\) 5D of the three replicates (a-g) means with the same superscript within the same column are not different (\(p>0.05\), [PERSON]’s test)—effect of time. [ENDFOOTNOTE] \\  & & & & & & & \\ \hline
0 & 62.95 \(\pm\) 0.75  & 57.7 \(\pm\) 0.19  & 56.40 \(\pm\) 0.78  & 56.40 \(\pm\) 0.78  & 6.18 \(\pm\) 0.09  & 6.20 \(\pm\) 0.02  & 6.20 \(\pm\) 0.02 [FOOTNOTE:]Footnote : All values are mean \(\pm\) 5D of the three replicates (a-g) means with the same superscript within the same column are not different (\(p>0.05\), [PERSON]’s test)—effect of time. [ENDFOOTNOTE] & 6.20 \(\pm\) 0.02 [FOOTNOTE:]Footnote : All values are mean \(\pm\) 5D of the three replicates (a-g) means with the same superscript within the same column are not different (\(p>0. The significant reduction in redness (a*) of raw chicken meat was observed after the addition of cardamom, bay leaf and black seed (Table 4). Similar effect was reported previously in raw chicken containing acorn [41].