Innovative technologies for fruit extracts: Value-added opportunities in the meat industry

Abstract

Consumers have concerns about the safety of synthetic antioxidants, and therefore, the use of natural antioxidants is increasing. Fruits are rich sources of various antioxidants that can be used in the meat industry as replacements for synthetic antioxidants. The naturally occurring antioxidants in fruit (e.g. polyphenols, carotenoids, vitamins) have attracted interest due to their bioactivity, to which many beneficial healthy effects are prescribed. It is well known that oxidation decreases the sensory and nutritive value of food products, whereas antioxidants added to foods can preserve the lipid components from quality deterioration. Therefore, the use of naturally extracted antioxidants from fruit could be useful to meet industry and consumers’ expectations of safe and high-quality products. Recently, innovative extraction methods have been developed in order to obtain highly valued extracts for further industrial use. In particular, non-thermal technologies showed many advantages over traditional conventional methods, and therefore, much attention is paid to optimizing these lower temperature processing parameters to obtain higher yields and higher quality extracts. Incorporation of fruit extracts consisting of various bioactive compounds in processed meat will result in value-added products with associated health benefits.