Essential oils as natural additives to prevent oxidation reactions in meat and meat products: A review.

Oxidation reactions during manufacturing, distribution, and storage of meat and meat products result in undesirable physicochemical changes and aromas, which leads to detrimental effects on the product quality. This could be translated into the consumer dissatisfaction and economic loss. One of the most common practices to overcome this issue is the incorporation of synthetic antioxidants. However, the increasing health-consciousness of consumers and their preference for natural additives leads to the search of natural alternatives to synthetic antioxidants. A number of essential oils have strong antioxidant properties and are explored as potential alternatives to chemical antioxidants in the meat industry. These compounds are classified as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS), and their application single or combined with other essential oils, ingredients or preservation technologies have beneficial effects on meat products. Their activity depends on several parameters including their concentrations, their possible synergistic effects, and the extraction method used to obtain them. Although steam distillation is the most common industrial technique for essential oils extraction, novel technologies have been emerged to address the drawbacks of the traditional extraction method and to obtain high-quality essential oils. This paper provides an overview of the application of essential oils as potential substitutes for synthetic antioxidants in the meat industry, exploring their mechanism of action against oxidation reactions, and the effect of extraction methods on their effectiveness.

Active packaging films with natural antioxidants to be used in meat industry: A review.

Spoilage of meat products during processing, distribution and exposure in the markets have an important negative impact on meat industry from an economic point of view. Two of the main problems of meat and products during processing and subsequent storage are lipid oxidation and deterioration due to microorganism growth. In this context, several packaging alternatives have been developed by meat industry in order to limit these losses and to extend the meat products´ shelf life. Over the last years, the use of active packaging has been proposed as an alternative to traditional packaging. The principle of active packaging, particularly antioxidant active packaging, consists of including active agents in the packaging which interact with meat and/or its environment, either by trapping pro-oxidant compounds or by releasing antioxidant compounds in order to delay degradation due to lipid oxidation. Therefore, the use of active packaging is presented as a future option to solve the problems derived from oxidative deterioration of meat and meat products. However, its use will depend on the costs involved in the development of this active packaging. Therefore, this review will give an overview about the use of active packaging and natural antioxidants, the active film development techniques, as well as the use of biopolymers as substitutes for synthetic polymers and their direct application in the meat industry.

Microalgae cultivation in agro-industrial effluents for biodiesel application: effects of the availability of nutrients.

The present study evaluated the cultivation of microalgae in a photobioreactor using effluents from the meat-processing industry, which had been previously treated at the primary and secondary levels. Scenedesmus sp. was the dominant genus in the phytoplankton community in both of the evaluated effluents. The different nutritional conditions affected the production of biomass, which reached 1,160 mg/L of volatile suspended solids (VSS) and 371 mg/L of VSS with cultivation in the primary (PE) and secondary effluents (SE), respectively. In both effluents, great removal efficiencies close to quantification limits were observed for ammoniacal nitrogen and soluble phosphorus. Regarding the accumulation of lipids, there were no considerable differences between the effluents. The highest lipid productivity that was observed in the PE, which reached 3.7 g/m²·d, was attributed to its larger production of biomass as a consequence of its better nutritional condition in relation to the SE.

Influence of surfactants and proteins on the properties of wet edible calcium alginate meat coatings.

Calcium alginate structures are of interest as replacers for natural casings due to their high availability, biodegradability and low price. The aim of this paper is to study the effect of oil, surfactants and proteins (pea and collagen) on the water transfer, mechanical and microstructural properties of the wet calcium alginate films. The addition of oil and surfactants tended to reduce the water permeance and the weight loss rate, reaching values between those shown by natural and collagen artificial casings. The addition of proteins did not improve the adherence of the films and it decreased the maximum force of the film at puncture test, which was even lower with the presence of the surfactant E475. The TEM micrographs showed that the differences in mechanical properties are mainly related to the differences in the compaction of the microstructure. Wet alginate films with E475 are envisaged as a substitute of natural and collagen artificial casings in the stuffed meat products industry.

Oyster Culinary-Medicinal Mushroom, Pleurotus ostreatus (Higher Basidiomycetes), Growth in Grain-Based Diet Improves Broiler Chicken Production.

Many alternative compounds have been tested to improve poultry performance but few of them have previously used mycelial-colonized substrate to partially replace standard diet in broiler chickens. The objective of this study was to evaluate broiler chicken production, health, and meat sensory characteristics, with partial replacement of the standard diet by Pleurotus ostreatus-colonized substrate. One hundred fifty 1-day-old male Cobb chicks were given standard diet partially replaced by 0, 5, 10, 100, or 200 g·kg⁻¹ of P. ostreatus-colonized substrate and randomly distributed into five treatments. Each treatment had three replicates, with 10 birds per replicate, totaling 30 birds. The replacement of the standard diet by 10 g·kg⁻¹ of colonized substrate increased (P≤0.05) chicken body mass up to 57% at 21 days, and up to 28% at 42 days. In general, partial replacement of standard diet by colonized substrate increased hematocrits and typical lymphocytes, and reduced low density lipoproteins. Also, it reduced chicken production period up to 21% and there is no meat taste alteration. The use of P. ostreatus-colonized substrate in chicken feeding is an alternative method to improve broiler chicken production.

Effect of the addition of chia's by-product on the composition of fatty acids in hamburgers through chemometric methods.

BACKGROUND: Hamburger is a meat-based food that is easy to prepare and is widely consumed. It can be enriched using different ingredients, such as chia's by-product, which is rich in omega-3. Chemometrics is a very interesting tool to assess the influence of ingredients in the composition of foods. A complete factorial design 2(2) (two factors in two levels) with duplicate was performed to investigate the influence of the factors (1) concentration of textured soy proteins (TSP) and (2) concentration of chia flour partially defatted (CFPD) as a partial replacement for the bovine meat and porcine fat mix in hamburgers. RESULTS: The results of proximal composition, lipid oxidation, fatty acids sums, ratios, and nutritional indexes were used to propose statistical models. The factors TSP and CFPD were significant, and the increased values contributed to improve the composition in fatty acids, crude protein, and ash. Principal components analysis distinguished the samples with a higher content of chia. In desirability analysis, the highest level of TSP and CFPD was described as the optimal region, and it was not necessary to make another experimental point. CONCLUSION: The addition of chia's by-product is an alternative to increase the α-linolenic contents and to obtain nutritionally balanced food.

Carnosic acid dietary supplementation at 0.12% rates slows down meat discoloration in gluteus medius of fattening lambs.

Thirty-two Merino lambs fed barley straw and a concentrate alone (CONTROL) or enriched with vitamin E (VITE006) or carnosic acid (CARN006; CARN012) were used to assess the effect of these antioxidant compounds on meat quality attributes. The animals were slaughtered after being fed for at least 5weeks with the experimental diets. The longissimus lumborum samples of VITE006, CARN006 and CARN012 groups showed higher values (P<0.001) of L* (lightness) through the complete storage period under modified atmosphere when compared to the CONTROL group. Moreover, the VITE006 and CARN012 samples revealed lower discoloration when compared to the CONTROL group, these differences being more apparent in a less color stable muscle such as gluteus medius (P<0.05 for hue after 14days of refrigerated storage). Meat sensory traits were not significantly affected by carnosic acid and microbiological analyses were not conclusive at the doses administered.

Effects of calf diet, antioxidants, packaging type and storage time on beef steak storage.

The effect of basal dietary supplemented with vegetable oils plus vitamin E (sunflower, soybean, linseed and a basal diet control), type of packaging (MAP or vacuum), addition of natural antioxidant (grape seed, rosemary) and storage time (0, 7, 14 and 21 days) on lipid oxidation, color stability, vitamin E content, and total aerobic bacterial counts in steaks of Longissimus thoracis was studied. The triple interaction diet × time × packaging affected oxidative stability, redness and yellowness of the meat. TBARS values did not increase with time in vacuum-packaged samples for all dietary treatments. However, samples from MAP and control showed the highest TBARS values after 21 days of storage (0.72 mg MDA/kg of meat, P<0.05). Both exogenous antioxidant extracts and MAP maintained low total aerobic counts in steaks until the 21st day. Calves should be fed a diet supplemented with L-VE, stored in MAP and treated with grape seed extract to extend the shelf life of their meat.

Growth promotion of Bifidobacterium species by poultry bone and meat trimming hydrolyzate.

UNLABELLED: The growth of bifidobacteria that are employed in the production of functional food is often slow or limited, even on synthetic media. In this study, we investigated whether a peptide hydrolyzate (functional animal protein [FAP]), from poultry bones and meat trimmings, could be a potential source of growth stimulators. The bifidogenic activity of FAP on 18 strains of Bifidobacterium species was assessed via 2 different techniques: turbidimetric measurements and a direct count by fluorescence microscopy. Growth experiments were performed in B12 broth as the basal medium, B12 broth supplemented with N-acetylglucosamine, and B12 broth supplemented with FAP. FAP supplementation yielded the highest maximum optical density (OD) and count values. The use of the microscopic fluorescence counts allowed for better evaluation of the extent of growth and assessment of the viability of cells. FAP from poultry bones and meat trimmings has potential as a growth stimulator for different bifidobacteria of human origin. FAP is a promising ingredient for inclusion in industrial media that are used to culture probiotic strains, including bifidobacteria, because it supports growth very well and maintains cells at a high level of viability. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Proteinaceous hydrolyzate can be considered a promising ingredient for industrial media that are used to culture probiotic strains, including bifidobacteria, because it improves bacterial growth and maintains cells at a high level of viability.

Compositional and instrumental firmness variations within fresh pork bellies.

Fresh pork bellies (n=24) were cut into 15 sections to measure the intra-belly variation in compositional and mechanical firmness characteristics. Length and width of each belly was measured before the belly was divided into 3 rows (D = dorsal; C = central; and V = ventral) and 5 columns (labeled 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 from cranial to caudal), resulting in 15 belly sections of equal dimensions. The belly section with the greatest compression value was D-1, whereas the lowest compression value was found in the V-4 section (column×row, P<0.001). Conversely, the greatest and least puncture values were observed in the C-2 and V-5 locations, respectively (column×row, P=0.016). The D-3 section had the lowest proportion of lean and the greatest proportion of fat, but the greatest lean and lowest fat percentages were found in the V-1 and C-4 sections, respectively (column×row, P<0.001). The greatest proportions of saturated fatty acids (SFA) were found in the V-4 and V-5, and the lowest proportions of SFA were in D-1 (column×row, P<0.001). Moreover, C-4 and V-1 had the greatest percentages of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), whereas the lowest MUFA content was observed in D-1, D-2, and D-3 (column×row, P<0.001). The D row (columns 1, 2, 3, and 5) also had the greatest proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), but the lowest proportions of PUFA were located in C-4, V-4, and V-5 (column×row, P<0.001). Consequently, the iodine value was greatest in D-1 and lowest in V-4, V-5, and C-5 (column×row, P<0.001). It is apparent from these results that there is an obvious fatty acid composition gradient within bellies, which results in considerable intra-belly variation in composition and firmness.

Biological nutrient and organic removal from meat packing wastewater with a unique sequence of suspended growth and fixed-film reactors.

A unique sequence of anaerobic filter/suspended anaerobic/aerobic (AO) reactor/aerobic filter system was developed to alleviate the drawbacks of conventional suspended growth and fixed growth systems. An anaerobic filter (AF) was used to efficiently produce volatile fatty acids (VFAs) prior to the aerobic suspended growth. A second anaerobic reactor was installed in the A/O return activated sludge line to improve phosphorus uptake by potentially controlling glycogen accumulating organisms (GAOs). One biological aerobic filter (BAF) was used for nitrification followed by an anoxic filter for denitrification and a second BAF was used for effluent polishing. The meat packing wastewater had a biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of 853 mg/L and total nitrogen (T-N) and total phosphorus (T-P) concentrations of 61.1 mg/L and 5.8 mg/L, respectively. The BOD removal efficiency was 99.0-99.7% and the suspended solids (SS) concentration in the effluent was below 10 mg/L. The T-N removal efficiency was maintained at greater than 75.0% except at low C/N ratios. A high T-P removal efficiency, 74.7-83.9%, was also obtained when the system was operated at a hydraulic retention time of 15.7 hrs. The AF successfully produced VFAs that aided in phosphorus removal. Additionally, recycled concrete aggregate used as attachment media in the biological filters continuously provided micronutrients and stabilized the pH.

Growth performance, carcass quality, and noncarcass components of indigenous Caribbean goats under varying nutritional densities.

Studies were conducted to determine the effects of feeding regimens on growth and carcass quality of the Creole goat, a genotype indigenous to the Caribbean. Forty kids weighing 9.0 +/- 1.2 kg of BW were reared indoors after weaning. Four supplement amounts were compared (10 kids per treatment): the G0 group received the basal diet (tropical forage, 8.8 MJ of ME and 108 g of CP/kg of DM) without concentrate, whereas the G100, G200, and G300 groups were offered 130, 230, and 310 g/d of concentrate (13.6 MJ of ME and 209 g of CP/kg of DM), respectively, in addition to the basal diet. The kids were slaughtered according to the standard procedure at 22 to 24 kg of BW for assessment of carcass traits and meat quality. Total DMI increased significantly, from 51 to 78 g/kg of BW(0.75), for G0 to G300 kids, whereas their ADG doubled from 42 to 84 g/d (P < 0.01; P < 0.01, respectively). The G:F values reached 125 to 130 for the G200 and G300 diets and were satisfactory compared with literature values. The carcass weight and dressing percentage (P < 0.01) increased from group G0 to G300, from 9 to 13 kg and from 42 to 51%, respectively. The proportions of the different cuts (related to the carcass weight) did not vary by diet. The conformation score increased significantly (P < 0.05) among the 4 groups from an average score of 3.2 to 4.0 (score/5). There was a significant effect (P < 0.01) of supplement amount on the accumulation of internal fat tissues: the kidney fat weight increased from 113 to 253 g from the G0 to the G300 group. Regardless of the feeding level and amount of internal fat, the carcasses had an acceptable fat cover score, which remained less than 2.6 (score/5). A significant effect was not observed for the ultimate pH and the main color variables of the meat. The cooking loss and the shoulder DM content varied (P < 0.05) with the supplement amount. By increasing the nutritional density of the diet, it was possible to obtain well-conformed and heavy carcasses, with no excessive fattening. Indigenous Creole goats have potential as meat animals when fed to gain more than 80 g/d. The optimal supplement supply with good-quality grass would be approximately 3.69 MJ of ME/d in our conditions. Further studies are required on meat sensory parameters and fatty acid profiles.

Effects of different levels of hatchery wastes on the performance, carcass and tibia ash and some blood parameters in broiler chicks.

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of different levels of Hatchery Wastes (HW) on performance, tibia ash, blood calcium and phosphorus concentrations in broiler chickens. Birds were fed a corn-soybean meal diet for 7 days. The experimental treatments included a corn soybean meal diet and 3 other treatments containing 1.5, 3.0 and 4.5% HW. five replicate groups of 15 Ross 308 broiler chicks were allocated to each dietary treatment. Data were analyzed in a completely randomized design. Results indicated that there were no significant differences in weight gains among different dietary treatments. Feed intake in the 4.5% treatment was significantly higher (p < 0.05) and 3% treatment had lower feed intake than the other treatments. The results indicated that feed conversion in the 3% HW treatment was lower in most of the period (p > 0.05). Results of carcass analysis showed no significant differences between treatments. Also, there were no significant differences between blood calcium and phosphorous among treatments. The 4.5 and 3.0% hatchery wastes treatments had the highest tibia ash (p < 0.05). Based on the result of this experiment, the utilization of hatchery wastes as much as 3% can increase tibia strength without having adverse effect on broilers performance.

Lipid and protein oxidation of broiler meat as influenced by dietary natural antioxidant supplementation.

Natural tocopherols (TC), rosemary (RO), green tea (GT), grape seed, and tomato extracts were supplemented in single and in combinations at total concentrations of 100 and 200 mg.kg(-1) of feed in a 4% linseed oil-containing diet to investigate the oxidative stability of broiler breast muscle. Supplementation with 300 mg.kg(-)1 of synthetic antioxidants alone and synthetic antioxidants with alpha-tocopheryl acetate at a concentration of 200 mg.kg(-1) (100 IU) feed was used as a control. Fresh patties were prepared and stored under light at 4 degrees C. After freezing for 8 mo and overnight thawing, 3 other patties were prepared and similarly stored under light at 4 degrees C. During display, samples were evaluated for oxidative stability measurements. For lipid oxidation, the treatment with synthetic antioxidants and 200 mg.kg(-1) of alpha-tocopheryl acetate yielded the lowest TBA reactive species (TBARS) values. For TC, grape seed, and tomato extracts, TBARS values for 100 mg.kg(-1) were higher (P < 0.05) than 200 mg.kg(-1) treatments, whereas no differences (P > 0.05) in TBARS values were observed for RO between 100 and 200 mg.kg(-1). In contrast, GT showed higher TBARS values at 200 mg.kg(-1). Administration of combinations of TC, RO, and GT did not reveal synergistic effects but confirmed the increase in TBARS values with increasing doses of GT. No differences (P > 0.05) among the different antioxidant treatments were detected for protein oxidation. The muscle alpha-tocopherol content linearly responded to the feed alpha-tocopherol content and thus there were no indications for a sparing effect on alpha-tocopherol from other antioxidant treatments. In summary, dietary natural antioxidant extracts were less effective than the treatment with synthetic antioxidants combined with alpha-tocopheryl acetate for protecting against oxidation, but there were marked differences between different natural antioxidant extracts.

The effect of workstation and task variables on forces applied during simulated meat cutting.

The purpose of the study was to investigate factors related to force and postural exposure during a simulated meat cutting task. The hypothesis was that workstation, tool and task variables would affect the dependent kinetic variables of gripping force, cutting moment and the dependent kinematic variables of elbow elevation and wrist angular displacement in the flexion/extension and radial/ulnar deviation planes. To evaluate this hypothesis a 3 x 3 x 2 x 2 x 2 (surface orientation by surface height by blade angle by cut complexity by work pace) within-subject factorial design was conducted with 12 participants. The results indicated that the variables can act and interact to modify the kinematics and kinetics of a cutting task. Participants used greater grip force and cutting moment when working at a pace based on productivity. The interactions of the work surface height and orientation indicated that the use of an adjustable workstation could minimize wrist deviation from neutral and improve shoulder posture during cutting operations. Angling the knife blade also interacted with workstation variables to improve wrist and upper extremity posture, but this benefit must be weighed against the potential for small increases in force exposure.

Recent pre-harvest supplementation strategies to reduce carriage and shedding of zoonotic enteric bacterial pathogens in food animals.

Food-borne bacterial illnesses strike more than 76 million North Americans each year. Many of these illnesses are caused by animal-derived foodstuffs. Slaughter and processing plants do an outstanding job in reducing bacterial contamination after slaughter and during further processing, yet food-borne illnesses still occur at an unacceptable frequency. Thus, it is imperative to widen the window of action against pathogenic bacteria. Attacking pathogens on the farm or in the feedlot will improve food safety all the way to the consumer's fork. Because of the potential improvement in overall food safety that pre-harvest intervention strategies can provide, a broad range of preslaughter intervention strategies are currently under investigation. Potential interventions include direct anti-pathogen strategies, competitive enhancement strategies and animal management strategies. Included in these strategies are competitive exclusion, probiotics, prebiotics, antibiotics, antibacterial proteins, vaccination, bacteriophage, diet, and water trough interventions. The parallel and simultaneous application of one or more preslaughter strategies has the potential to synergistically reduce the incidence of human food-borne illnesses by erecting multiple hurdles, thus preventing entry of pathogens into the food chain. This review emphasizes work with Escherichia coli O157:H7 to illustrate the various strategies.

Biological nutrient removal from meat processing wastewater using a sequencing batch reactor.

Meat processing effluents are rich in nutrients (nitrogen: 75-200 mg L(-1) and phosphorus: 20-40 mg L(-1)) and COD (800-2,000 mg L(-1)) after primary treatment. A laboratory scale sequencing batch reactor (SBR) was operated for the treatment of a beef processing effluent from slaughtering and boning operations. An effective SBR cycle was found for removal of COD, nitrogen and phosphorus at 22 degrees C. The solid retention time was 15 days while the hydraulic retention time (HRT) was 2.5 days. The total nitrogen in the wastewater was reduced to less than 10 mg L(-1), while the total phosphorus decreased to less than 1.0 mg L(-1). The residual effluent soluble COD was found to be non-biodegradable as reflected by no further soluble COD removal following prolonged aeration. Removal of biodegradable soluble COD, ammonia nitrogen and soluble phosphate phosphorus of greater than 99% was achieved in the SBR. Good prediction of ammonia and nitrate nitrogen removal was obtained using IWA Activated Sludge Model. The operating cycle is shown to be appropriate to achieve simultaneous removal of COD and nutrients from the meat processing wastewater. Alkalinity and pH have an inverse relationship during the initial anaerobic and aerobic stages due to production and stripping of CO2. Use of a low level of DO in the final aerobic stage ensured complete ammonia removal and enhanced denitrification.

Quality characteristics of irradiated ready-to-eat breast rolls from turkeys fed conjugated linoleic acid.

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of irradiation on the quality of ready-to-eat (RTE) breast rolls from turkeys fed conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). The oxidative stability of RTE turkey rolls was improved by the dietary CLA treatment. Irradiation increased the production of acetaldehyde, 3-methyl-butanal, 2-methyl-butanal, and total volatiles in turkey rolls but had little effect on other aldehydes. Irradiation also produced new volatiles, including sulfur compounds, not detected in nonirradiated turkey breast rolls. We detected significantly higher amounts of alkanes with nine or higher carbons in irradiated samples than in nonirradiated samples. Irradiation increased the redness of RTE turkey breast rolls, but the degree of redness and the amount of total volatiles decreased with storage. CLA treatment lowered the redness (a*) and increased the lightness (L*) of RTE turkey breast rolls during the entire storage period. Sensory evaluation revealed that irradiation produced off-flavor, but CLA and irradiation did not influence the texture and juiciness of RTE turkey breast rolls. Consumers did not like the off-flavor but preferred the color induced by irradiation to nonirradiated RTE turkey breast rolls.

Effects of alpha-tocopheryl acetate supplementation and salt addition on the oxidative stability (TBARS) and warmed-over flavour (WOF) of cooked turkey meat.

1. Day-old turkey poults (n = 14) were randomly divided into 2 groups (n = 7) and fed diets containing 20 (E20) and 600 (E600) mg all-rac-alpha-tocopheryl acetate/kg food for 21 weeks prior to slaughter. Following slaughter, breast and leg meat was removed and 4 batches of patties were produced from each. Two of the batches were formed from E20 meat (E20) and E20 plus 1% salt (E20S). Two similar batches were formed from E600 meat (E600) and E600 plus 1% salt (E600S). 2. Patties were fried, cooled and overwrapped with high oxygen-permeable film. Overwrapped patties were displayed in a 4 microC cabinet under fluorescent light (616 lux). Lipid oxidation (TBARS numbers) was determined on d 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10, while taste panels to assess warmed-over flavour (WOF) were carried out on d 0, 2 and 4 of refrigerated (4 degrees C) display. 3. In the case of both leg and breast meat, E600 patties were the least susceptible of the 4 treatment batches to lipid oxidation. Salt had the effect of promoting lipid oxidation, with E20S and E600S patties having higher TBARS numbers than the corresponding patty batches where salt was absent. 4. Taste panel results showed that leg and breast patties formed from the meat of turkeys given alpha-tocopheryl acetate enriched diets developed significantly (P < 0.05) less WOF than those formed from control turkey meat on d 2 and 4 of refrigerated (4 degrees C) display. Patties containing 1% salt generally exhibited a greater degree of WOF than patties without salt. 5. A linear relationship was observed between TBARS numbers and WOF percentages for all batches of leg and breast patties.