Abstract
Alternative technologies for long-term preservation, quality assurance, and safety of meat are continuously pursued by the food industry to satisfy the demands of modern consumers for nutritious and healthy meat-based products. Naturally occurring phenolic compounds are considered promising substances by the meat industry for their antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, while consumers seem to embrace them for their claimed health benefits. Despite the numerous in vitro and in situ studies demonstrating their beneficial effects against meat oxidation, spoilage, and foodborne pathogens, wide application and commercialization has not been yet achieved. Major obstacles are still the scarcity of legislative framework, the large variety of meat-based products and targeted pathogens, the limited number of case-specific application protocols and the questionable universal efficiency of the applied ones. The objectives of the present review are (i) to summarize the current knowledge about the applications of naturally occurring phenols in meat and meat-based products, emphasizing the mechanisms, determinants, and spectrum of their antioxidant and antimicrobial activity; (ii) to present state-of-the-art technologies utilized for the application of phenolic compounds in meat systems; and (iii) to discuss relevant regulation, limitations, perspectives, and future challenges for their mass industrial use.
Highlights
During the last 70 years, an increased demand for foods of animal origin and especially meat and meat products has been observed worldwide
Despite the numerous in vitro and in situ studies demonstrating the beneficial effects of natural phenolic compounds against meat oxidation, spoilage, and foodborne pathogens, wide application and commercialization in the meat industry has not been yet achieved
The immediate establishment of a legislative framework for the use and assessment of natural phenolic compounds in meat-based products is a crucial prerequisite towards their massive application in meat industry and for the consumers’ acceptability
Summary
During the last 70 years, an increased demand for foods of animal origin and especially meat and meat products has been observed worldwide. To meet the ever-growing skepticism of the consumer, biocontrol and natural additive compounds for the prevention of meat oxidation, spoilage, and foodborne pathogens have emerged as novel preservation technologies. They exploit the antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of bacteriophage viruses and biomolecules (e.g., bacteriocins, natural organic acids, peptides and other groups of organic compounds) produced by lactic acid bacteria, plants, and animals. These compounds are used as biopreservatives according to the type (raw or cooked meat), specific conditions, (storing temperature, pH, etc.), and targeted pathogens in meat and meat byproducts [3,7,13]. Botulinum; and other bacterial agents (such as Aeromonas hydrophila, enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), Enterococcus, Shigella spp., Yersinia enterocolitica, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), and Listeria spp.) [27,29]
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