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Nowadays, the development of environmentally-friendly packaging materials is relevant worldwide. Biodegradable packaging materials are promising due to their safety and ability to extend shelf life of food products. This study aimed to investigate the properties of biodegradable film based on a bacterial exopolysaccharide (xanthan) with the view to extend the quality and shelf life of chilled meat products. We studied pork and carp samples packed in biodegradable film and stored at 0–2°C. Biodegradable packaging had positive effects on sensory, physicochemical, and microbiological parameters, as well as on ecological safety of the raw materials. During storage of packed chilled pork, its mass loss decreased from 2.16 to 0.21% (norm to 0.30%), and water activity reduced from 0.985 to 0.960, which had a positive effect on the microbiological resistance of pork during storage. The use of biodegradable film contributed to the preservation of quality and freshness of carp, which was confirmed by sensory and microbiological indicators. Total microbial contamination in carp packed in biodegradable film was significantly lower than that in unpacked samples, which extended its shelf life for one day compared to control. Biodegradable packaging also allowed mass loss and pH value to decrease during storage and inhibited oxidation processes in the samples under study. Free fatty acid content decreased by a factor of two, and peroxides, by 7%. Thus, biodegradable films can be effective film coatings to use in the food industry. This method of packaging not only preserves the functional and technological properties of food products, lowers their mass loss, and extends their shelf life, but also reduces costs and is environmentally friendly.

The relevance of the studies is caused by the need to improve the safety and extend the shelf life of semifinished products from fatty fish raw materials. The study was carried out at the premises of the Saratov State Agrarian University. Study objects were fish mixed fodder; two-year-old carps; fish raw materials; carp semifinished products. Physicochemical, histological, and organoleptic research methods were used in the study. The authors have developed a method for inhibiting the process of fish fat oxidation at all the stages of the life cycle of fish products using CO2 rosemary extract and milk thistle oil meal as antioxidant components because they contain flavonolignans and carnosic and rosmarinic acids. Technological methods for obtaining complex fish mixed fodder with antioxidant properties were developed and the optimal dosages of the antioxidants added to a feed supplement were determined. A positive effect of an antioxidant supplement on the fish biological characteristics of a reared carp, as well as on the morpho-functional indicators of the obtained raw materials, was shown. The authors developed formulations of the fish semi-finished products made from the raw materials grown using antioxidant fish mixed fodder. The safety and quality indicators of the developed products were estimated. They showed that the use of an antioxidant component at the stage of fish rearing and in manufacturing process of fish semi-finished products makes it possible to significantly improve the stability of the fat phase both in fish raw materials and in the finished products.