Use of Natural Antioxidants in Poultry Meat

Abstract

Poultry meat is one of the most important protein sources in the world. For this reason, there is a constantly increasing demand by consumers for poultry meat. Lipid oxidation is one of the major factors that determine quality and shelf-life of poultry meat. Lipid oxidation affect the different sensory modalities appearance, aroma/flavor and texture, which can result in colour deteration and the development of off-flavours in poultry. Synthetic antioxidants such as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) have been effectively being used for the stabilization of poultry meat against lipid oxidation, but safety concerns associated with and their role in causing chronic diseases like cancer have restricted their use in food products. A good alternative for these synthetic antioxidants are natural antioxidants which are safer, economical and capable of preventing oxidative deterioration of food products and alleviating metabolic diseases at the same time. Therefore, there is growing interest in the use of natural antioxidants (rosemary, oregano, green tea, grape seed etc.) by scientists to prevent lipid oxidation in poultry meat. In many research, the use of natural antioxidants in poultry meat has been examined in terms of oxidation mechanism. In this review, it is aimed to transfer the data obtained from current studies in which effects of various natural antioxidants on lipid oxidation in poultry meat are examined.