Page 365 - Natural Antioxidants, Applications in Foods of Animal Origin

344 Natural Antioxidants: Applications in Foods of Animal Origin
VetBooks.ir ABSTRACT

Lipid oxidation is a major cause of deterioration in meat, and preventing this
alteration process during storage is actually a major challenge for the food
technology. The function of food packaging has evolved from a simple phys-
ical barrier to include more specific aspects of convenience for approaching
to specific concerns, and active packaging seems to be an effective tool to
prevent lipid oxidation in meat and increase shelf life.
In this chapter, after a brief reminder on the lipid oxidation in meat, the
natural and artificial antioxidants used in foods, and the modified atmo-
sphere packaging (MAP), and its effect on the oxidation processes in meat,
the active packaging as a solution against oxidative processes during meat
storage is treated. The modes of action for antioxidant packages, the criteria
of selection of the antioxidant compounds used, the methodologies for
producing antioxidant packaging systems, and the materials for food active
antioxidant packaging are addressed, and information in literature on the
use of antioxidant packaging in the preventing lipid oxidation during meat
storage are reviewed.

9.1 INTRODUCTION

Lipid oxidation is a major cause of quality deterioration in meat, which leads
to off-odors and off-flavors, which are usually described as rancid (Gray &
Pearson, 1994) as well as discoloration or texture changes of muscle foods
during refrigerated storage (Kanner, 1994; Shahidi, 2002; Gong et al., 2010).
In addition, oxidation causes loss of nutritional values, and generates and
accumulates compounds that may pose continual risks to human health
(Kanner, 1994; Min & Ahn, 2005).
Nowadays, consumers are finding less time to prepare meals. Food
industry is responding to this by increasing the availability of pre-cooked
meats. However, as in fresh meat, the major problem with precooked meats
is the development of an objectionable warmed-over flavor via lipid oxida-
tion (Ang & Lyon, 1990). Therefore, lipid oxidation needs to be controlled
during storage in order to prevent the formation of off-odors and off-flavors
in foods (Richards, 2006). The first step is know the specific changes that
these foods undergo to select appropriate packaging material and package
format options, and so minimizes quality loss (Krotcha, 2006).
One method is to reduce the concentration of oxygen in the fat by
packing the products under vacuum or nitrogen (Chu & Hwang, 2002).