Drumstick (Moringa oleifera) Flower as an Antioxidant Dietary Fibre in Chicken Meat Nuggets

Effect of cinnamaldehyde-nanoemulsion and nanostructured lipid carriers on physicochemical attributes of reduced-nitrite sausages

This study aimed to produce cinnamaldehyde (CA)-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) and nanoemulsion (NE) to replace nitrite in sausage. The NLC and NE droplet sizes were 132 and 116 nm with encapsulation efficiency of 98 and 96 %, respectively. In in vitro antimicrobial assessment, the free CA and NE showed higher microbial activity against S. aureus and E. coli than NLC. Meanwhile, NE showed a faster release profile for CA than NLC. Among the samples, NE and NE + nitrite indicated the lowest peroxide value (3.7 ± 0.1), TVBN amount (8.6 ± 0.2), acidity (0.3 ± 0.02), microbial quality (against E. coli, C. perfringens, lactic acid bacteria, psychrophilic bacteria, total mold and yeast, and total viable counts), and sensory attribute, while the NE + nitrite sample exhibited better color properties and higher oxymyoglobin content (5-10 % higher). Therefore, NE + nitrite can be the best choice due to supporting the different quality parameters of sausage.

Evaluation of the physical, antioxidant, and organoleptic properties of biscuits fortified with edible flower powders

Foods enriched with plants have gradually become an area of increasing research interest because plant ingredients may offer several positive effects on human health and the body. The aim of our study was to develop biscuits fortified with three different types of edible flowers (marigold, lavender, and rose) and examine their physical and antioxidant characteristics, as well as consumer acceptability. The antioxidant properties and characterization of biscuits highlighted that edible flowers may cause increased total polyphenol and total flavonoid yields, as well as DPPH radical scavenging activities. Concerning biscuits fortified with rose petals, the total monomer anthocyanin content was also raised. In addition, the results showed that the antioxidant properties of biscuits increased with increasing concentration (from 2.5% to 5.0%) of edible flowers. Despite this, the consumer acceptability results clearly showed that the addition of marigold and lavender at a concentration of 5.0% caused significantly decreased overall acceptance. We found that the fortification step may increase the spread ratio, which is an important quality attribute of biscuits. We found slight variations in the diameter, thickness, and baking loss parameters of fortified biscuits compared to the control. All in all, the best results were obtained when the biscuits were fortified with rose petals at a concentration of 5%.

Elevating Cereal-Based Nutrition: Moringa oleifera Supplemented Bread and Biscuits

Enhancing the nutritional value of commonly consumed, cost-effective staple foods, such as bread and biscuits, by fortifying them with Moringa oleifera leaf powder (MOLP) and its phenolic-rich extract holds substantial potential for addressing malnutrition. This study evaluated the phenolic extract from MOLP obtained through Soxhlet extraction, focusing on its antioxidant, antibacterial, and antidiabetic properties. The resulting extract exhibited a total phenolic content (TPC) of 138.2 mg of gallic acid equivalents/g. The ABTS and DPPH assays presented IC50 values of 115.2 mg/L and 544.0 mg/L, respectively. Furthermore, the extract displayed notable α-amylase inhibition and no cytotoxicity towards human fibroblasts. The primary phenolic compounds identified were catechin, epicatechin, and caffeic acid. Subsequently, MOLP and its extract were incorporated into bread and biscuits, replacing 5% of wheat flour, resulting in fortified functional foods. The fortified products exhibited improved TPC and antioxidant activity compared to the non-fortified foods. Furthermore, they displayed the ability to inhibit microbial growth, leading to an extended shelf life. Sensory analysis indicated that the products incorporated with the extract were preferred over those with MOLP. These results have demonstrated the viability of using MOLP and its phenolic-rich extract as an environmentally sustainable strategy for enhancing the quality of cereal-based products.

Properties and physiological effects of dietary fiber-enriched meat products: a review

Meat is a rich source of high biological proteins, vitamins, and minerals, but it is devoid of dietary fiber, an essential non-digestible carbohydrate component such as cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin, lignin, polysaccharides, and oligosaccharides. Dietary fibers are basically obtained from various cereals, legumes, fruits, vegetables, and their by-products and have numerous nutritional, functional, and health-benefiting properties. So, these fibers can be added to meat products to enhance their physicochemical properties, chemical composition, textural properties, and organoleptic qualities, as well as biological activities in controlling various lifestyle ailments such as obesity, certain cancers, type-II diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and bowel disorders. These dietary fibers can also be used in meat products as an efficient extender/binder/filler to reduce the cost of production by increasing the cooking yield as well as by reducing the lean meat content and also as a fat replacer to minimize unhealthy fat content in the developed meat products. So, growing interest has been observed among meat processors, researchers, and scientists in exploring various new sources of dietary fibers for developing dietary fiber-enriched meat products in recent years. In the present review, various novel sources of dietary fibers, their physiological effects, their use in meat products, and their impact on various physicochemical, functional, and sensory attributes have been focused.

Shelf-Stability of Kiln- and Liquid-Smoked Inulin-Fortified Emulsion-Type Pangasius Mince Sausage at Refrigerated Temperature

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of the kiln (SK-S) and liquid smoking (LS-S) processes on the quality of inulin-fortified emulsion-type Pangasius mince sausages. The moisture content during the storage significantly (p < 0.05) decreased in C-S (control) sausages and increased (p < 0.05) in SK-S and LS-S sausages. The protein content decreased (p < 0.05) in C-S, SK-S, and LS-S throughout the storage period. Initially, among the three processed sausages, LS-S showed a lower pH value, and as the days of storage progressed, all the treatments exhibited a declining trend (p < 0.05). A significant (p < 0.05) increase in the PV was observed in all the sausages during the storage days at 5 ± 1 °C, but the intensity of the increase was lower in SK-S and LS-S. The total viable count of C-S and SK-S sausages reached the limit of acceptability (6 log10cfu g-1) on the 20th day and on the 24th day of storage. The electrophoretic protein pattern of LS-S samples exhibited retention of all bands, indicating the lower proteolysis of MHC, actin, and troponin T in comparison with other treatments. The hardness (p < 0.05) and cohesiveness (p > 0.05) values of both SK-S and LS-S reduced as the storage days progressed. The present study indicates that the emulsion-type Pangasius sausages incorporated with inulin powder (2%) exposed to kiln smoking and commercial liquid smoking retained good-to-better sensory attributes up to day 16 (C-S) and day 20 (SK-S and LS-S) under refrigerated storage at 5 ± 1 °C in low-density vacuum polyethylene (LDPE) pouches.

Polyphenol-Dietary Fiber Conjugates from Fruits and Vegetables: Nature and Biological Fate in a Food and Nutrition Perspective

In the past few years, numerous studies have investigated the correlation between polyphenol intake and the prevention of several chronic diseases. Research regarding the global biological fate and bioactivity has been directed to extractable polyphenols that can be found in aqueous-organic extracts, obtained from plant-derived foods. Nevertheless, significant amounts of non-extractable polyphenols, closely associated with the plant cell wall matrix (namely with dietary fibers), are also delivered during digestion, although they are ignored in biological, nutritional, and epidemiological studies. These conjugates have gained the spotlight because they may exert their bioactivities for much longer than extractable polyphenols. Additionally, from a technological food perspective, polyphenols combined with dietary fibers have become increasingly interesting as they could be useful for the food industry to enhance technological functionalities. Non-extractable polyphenols include low molecular weight compounds such as phenolic acids and high molecular weight polymeric compounds such as proanthocyanidins and hydrolysable tannins. Studies concerning these conjugates are scarce, and usually refer to the compositional analysis of individual components rather than to the whole fraction. In this context, the knowledge and exploitation of non-extractable polyphenol-dietary fiber conjugates will be the focus of this review, aiming to access their potential nutritional and biological effect, together with their functional properties.

Potentiality of Moringa oleifera as a Nutritive Ingredient in Different Food Matrices

Given the growing interest of today's society in improving the nutritional profile of the food it consumes, industrial food reformulation is booming. In this sense, due to its high yield, good adaptation to climate change and high nutritional potential, Moringa oleifera may be an alternative means of fortifying products, in order to improve different food matrices. The different parts of this plant (leaves, seeds, flowers, pods, roots…) can be marketed for their nutritional and medicinal attributes. In this analysis, various scientific studies have been compiled that evaluate the potential of Moringa oleifera in terms of its incorporation into food matrices and its influence on the final sensory characteristics. In general, the incorporation of different parts of moringa into products, such as bread, pastries, snacks and beverages, increases the nutritional profile of the product (proteins, essential amino acids, minerals and fiber), the dried leaf powder representing an alternative to milk and eggs and helping vegans/vegetarians to consume the same protein content. In the case of dairy and meat products, the goal is to improve the antioxidant and antimicrobial capacity. In every food product, adding high concentrations of moringa leads to greenish colorations, herbal flavors and changes in the mechanical properties (texture, hardness, chewiness, volume and sponginess), negatively impacting the acceptance of the final product. This bibliographic review highlights the need to continue researching the technological properties with the dual aim of incorporating different parts of moringa into food matrices and increasing consumer familiarity with this product.

Antimicrobial Effect of Moringa oleifera Leaves Extract on Foodborne Pathogens in Ground Beef

Consumers nowadays are becoming more aware of the importance of using only meat products containing safe and natural additives. Hence, using natural food additives for extending the shelf life of meat along with delaying microbial growth has become an urgent issue. Given the increasingly popular view of Moringa oleifera leaves as a traditional remedy and also the scarcity of published data concerning its antimicrobial effect against foodborne pathogens in meat and meat products, we designed the present study to investigate the antimicrobial effect of Moringa oleifera leaves aqueous extract (0.5%, 1%, and 2%) on ground beef during refrigerated storage at 4 °C for 18 days. MLE revealed potent antimicrobial properties against spoilage bacteria, such as aerobic plate count and Enterobacteriaceae count. MLE 2% showed a significant (p < 0.01) reduction in the counts of E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, and Staphylococcus aureus artificially inoculated to ground beef by 6.54, 5.35, and 5.40 log₁₀ CFU/g, respectively, compared to control, by the 18th day of storage. Moringa leaves extract (MLE) had no adverse effect on the overall acceptability and other sensory attributes; moreover, it induced a slight improvement in the tenderness and juiciness of treated ground beef, compared to the control. Therefore, MLE can be used as a healthy, natural, and safe preservative to increase meat products' safety, quality, and shelf stability during cold storage. A promising approach for using natural food additives rather than chemical preservatives could begin new frontiers in the food industry, as they are more safe and do not constitute health risks to consumers.

Effect of Bamboo Essential Oil on the Oxidative Stability, Microbial Attributes and Sensory Quality of Chicken Meatballs

This study explores the efficacy of bamboo essential oil (BEO) incorporated at 15 ppm (T1, BEO-I) and 30 ppm (T2, BEO-II) on the overall physicochemical and oxidative stability, microbial deterioration, and sensory acceptability of meatballs stored for 20 days under refrigerated conditions. Analysis of various parameters, including physicochemical quality, color (CIE L*, CIE a* and CIE b*), generation of oxidative products (TBARS), microbial growth, and sensory acceptability of meatballs were evaluated at 5-day intervals. In addition, the total phenolics and flavonoid content of BEO were estimated, and fatty acids were determined by Gas chromatography (GC.) To gain insights into the biological activities of the BEO, antioxidant assays were determined in vitro using various methods. The antibacterial activity of BEO was also evaluated against Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis) and Gram-negative (Vibrio cholera, Salmonella Typhimurium, Shigella flexneri, Proteus vulgaris, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae) bacterial strains. The BEO contained a good quantity of total phenolics and flavonoids. In addition, the oil exhibited very potent antioxidant activity scavenging reactive oxygen and other such species, effectively showing IC₅₀ at a very minimal concentration. Further, the BEO exhibited a strong antibacterial effect with MICs within 2 µL and MBCs from 5 to 7 µL for Gram-positive as well as Gram-negative bacteria, respectively. At both the concentrations used, BEO did not show any negative effect on the color of cooked meatballs but rather increased the microbiological and oxidative stability during the overall storage period. Meatballs treated with BEO had considerably reduced oxidative changes in terms of TBARS levels compared to the control. The total viable microbial count was lowest in BEO-treated meatballs and the highest in control. Both control and treated meatballs had a desirable flavor and good acceptability. The sensory attributes and aroma of treated meatballs were better and acceptable during the storage study, whereas the control samples were disliked by the panelists on 15th day. From this study, it can be concluded that bamboo essential oil could be used as a benign and non-toxic preservative to improve the quality and shelf life of cooked meatballs stored under refrigerated conditions.

Amaranth Seeds and Sprouts as Functional Ingredients for the Development of Dietary Fiber, Betalains, and Polyphenol-Enriched Minced Tilapia Meat Gels

There is an increasing interest in the development of meat processed products enriched with antioxidant dietary fiber to augment the consumption of these health beneficial compounds. This study aimed to evaluate the nutritional, nutraceutical, and antioxidant potential, as well as the physicochemical properties of minced tilapia fillets (meat) gels with added amaranth seed or sprout flours (0%, 2%, 4%, 8%, and 10% w/w). Dietary fiber content was significantly increased with the addition of amaranth seed (1.25-1.75-fold) and sprout flours (1.99-3.21-fold). Tilapia gels with added 10% amaranth seed flour showed a high content of extractable dihydroxybenzoic acid and cinnamic acid, whereas the addition of 10% amaranth sprout flour provided a high and wide variety of bioactive compounds, mainly amaranthine and bound ferulic acid. The addition of amaranth seed and sprout flours increased hardness (1.01-1.73-fold) without affecting springiness, decreased luminosity (1.05-1.15-fold), and increased redness and yellowness. Therefore, amaranth seed and sprout flours could be used as functional ingredients for the development of fish products rich in bioactive compounds.

Applications of Essential Oils and Plant Extracts in Different Industries

Essential oils (EOs) and plant extracts are sources of beneficial chemical compounds that have potential applications in medicine, food, cosmetics, and the agriculture industry. Plant medicines were the only option for preventing and treating mankind's diseases for centuries. Therefore, plant products are fundamental sources for producing natural drugs. The extraction of the EOs is the first important step in preparing these compounds. Modern extraction methods are effective in the efficient development of these compounds. Moreover, the compounds extracted from plants have natural antimicrobial activity against many spoilage and disease-causing bacteria. Also, the use of plant compounds in cosmetics and hygiene products, in addition to their high marketability, has been helpful for many beauty problems. On the other hand, the agricultural industry has recently shifted more from conventional production systems to authenticated organic production systems, as consumers prefer products without any pesticide and herbicide residues, and certified organic products command higher prices. EOs and plant extracts can be utilized as ingredients in plant antipathogens, biopesticides, and bioherbicides for the agricultural sector. Considering the need and the importance of using EOs and plant extracts in pharmaceutical and other industries, this review paper outlines the different aspects of the applications of these compounds in various sectors.

Antioxidant Effect of Ocimum basilicum Essential Oil and Its Effect on Cooking Qualities of Supplemented Chicken Nuggets

A commonly observed chicken meat issue is its lipid oxidation that leads to deterioration of its organoleptic and nutritional properties and its further-processed products. Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is one of the traditional culinary herbs exhibiting food preservation properties. The current study investigated the essential oil composition, antioxidant activity and in vitro cytotoxic capacity of the essential oil of basil indigenous to Pakistan. GC–MS analysis of the essential oil revealed the presence of 59 compounds that constituted 98.6% of the essential oil. O. basilicum essential oil (OB-EO) exhibited excellent antioxidant activity, i.e., IC50 5.92 ± 0.15 µg/mL as assayed by the DPPH assay, 23.4 ± 0.02 µmoL Fe/g by FRAP, and 14.6 ± 0.59% inhibition by H2O2. The brine shrimp lethality assay identified an average mortality of ~18% with OB-EO at 10–1000 µg/mL, while that of the same concentration range of the standard drug (etoposide) was 72%. OB-EO was found to be non-toxic to HeLa and PC-3 cell lines. TBARS contents were significantly decreased with increase of OB-EO in chicken nuggets. The lowest TBARS contents were recorded in nuggets supplemented with 0.3% OB-EO, whereas the highest overall acceptability score was marked to the treatments carrying 0.2% OB-EO. The results suggest OB-EO as a promising carrier of bioactive compounds with a broad range of food preservation properties, and which has a sensory acceptability threshold level for chicken nuggets falling between 0.2-0.3% supplementation. Future research must investigate the antibacterial impact of OB-EO on meat products preserved with natural rather than synthetic preservatives.

Main animal fat replacers for the manufacture of healthy processed meat products

The technological, sensory, and nutritional characteristics of meat products are directly related to their animal fat content. Adding animal fat to meat products significantly influences their sensory properties, such as color, taste, and aroma. In addition, the physicochemical properties of fat decisively contribute to the texture of meat products, playing a fundamental role in improving the properties of viscosity, creaminess, chewiness, cohesiveness, and hardness. However, meat products' high animal fat content makes them detrimental to a healthy diet. Therefore, reducing the fat content of meat products is an urgent need, but it is a challenge for researchers and the meat industry. The fat reduction in meat products without compromising the product's quality and with minor impacts on the production costs is not a simple task. Thus, strategies to reduce the fat content of meat products should be studied with caution. During the last decades, several fat replacers were tested, but among all of them, the use of flours and fibers, hydrocolloids, mushrooms, and some animal proteins (such as whey and collagen) presented promising results. Additionally, multiple strategies to gel oils of vegetable origin are also a current topic of study, and these have certain advantages such as their appearance (attempts to imitate animal fat), while also improving the nutritional profile of the lipid fraction of the products meat. However, each of these fat substitutes has both advantages and limitations in their use, which will be discussed in subsequent sections. Therefore, due to the growing interest in this issue, this review focuses on the main substitutes for animal fat used in the production of meat products, offering detailed and updated information on the latest discoveries and advances in this area.

Antioxidant Effect of Pumpkin Flower (Cucurbita maxima) in Chicken Patties

In this work, the antioxidant effect of pumpkin flower powder was evaluated in chicken patties. For this purpose, three drying methods were proposed to obtain the pumpkin flower powder and preserve its properties (antioxidants, color, odor): foam-mat drying, freeze drying, and oven drying. The drying process of the powder plays an important role in the conservation of bioactive compounds. The foam-mat drying method would allow the preservation of these compounds after cooking and after cold storage due to encapsulation like mechanism of the added proteins. Thus, these powders were selected as the most adequate vehicle to incorporate in the formulation, since patties with these additives presented the better antioxidant scores for DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP even after 7 days of storage. In addition, total polyphenolic content and the presence or thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) were better scored in samples with the pumpkin flowers. The incorporation of the pumpkin flower additives in the patty formulation improved sensorial attributes of the chicken patties and consumers acceptance after cold storage.

Anti-Cancer and Medicinal Potentials of Moringa Isothiocyanate

Moringa oleifera (M. oleifera), which belongs to the Moringaceae family, is a common herb, rich in plant compounds. It has a variety of bioactive compounds that can act as antioxidants, antibiotics, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer agents, etc., which can be obtained in different body parts of M. oleifera. Isothiocyanates (ITCs) from M. oleifera are one class of these active substances that can inhibit cancer proliferation and promote cancer cell apoptosis through multiple signaling pathways, thus curbing cancer migration and metastasis, at the same time they have little adverse effect on normal cells. There are multiple variants of ITCs in M. oleifera, but the predominant phytochemical is 4-(α-L-rhamnosyloxy)benzyl isothiocyanate, also known as moringa isothiocyanate (MIC-1). Studies have shown that MIC-1 has the possibility to be used clinically for the treatment of diabetes, neurologic diseases, obesity, ulcerative colitis, and several cancer types. In this review, we focus on the molecular mechanisms underlying the anti-cancer and anti-chronic disease effects of MIC-1, current trends, and future direction of MIC-1 based treatment strategies. This review combines the relevant literature of the past 10 years, in order to provide more comprehensive information of MIC-1 and to fully exploit its potentiality in the clinical settings.

Lipid oxidation and protein co-oxidation in ready-to-eat meat products as affected by temperature, antioxidant, and packaging material during 6 months of storage

Ambient-storage-friendly, ready-to-eat (RTE) meat products are convenient in emergencies, such as earthquakes, flash floods and the current global Covid-19 lockdown. However, given the processing and long storage time of such food products, the lipid and protein components may be more susceptible to oxidation. Chicken serunding is a low-moisture, high-lipid, high-protein, RTE product that is prone to lipid oxidation and protein co-oxidation, causing product quality deterioration. The present study assessed the effects of storage temperature (25, 40, 60 °C), antioxidant (butylated hydroxyanisole, BHA), and multilayer packaging materials [metallised polyethene terephthalate (MPET) and aluminium] on the lipid oxidation and protein co-oxidation of chicken serunding during six months of storage. All lipid and protein markers elevated with increasing temperature (25 < 40 < 60 °C), indicating that storage of low-moisture meat at high temperature is not feasible. BHA was effective against lipid oxidation, as indicated by the significantly lower (p <0.05) extracted lipid content and delayed formation of malondialdehyde, a secondary lipid oxidation product. However, BHA is not effective against protein co-oxidation, as shown by the insignificant (p >0.05) effect on preventing tryptophan loss, protein carbonyl formation and Schiff base accumulation. MPET packaging with a superior light and oxygen barrier provided significant protection (p <0.05) compared to aluminium. In conclusion, low temperature (25 °C) storage of low-moisture, high-lipid, high-protein, cooked meat systems in MPET packaging is recommended for long-term storage to delay the progression of lipid oxidation and protein co-oxidation.

Edible Mushrooms as Functional Ingredients for Development of Healthier and More Sustainable Muscle Foods: A Flexitarian Approach

Consumers are increasingly interested in nutritious, safe and healthy muscle food products with reduced salt and fat that benefit their well-being. Hence, food processors are constantly in search of natural bioactive ingredients that offer health benefits beyond their nutritive values without affecting the quality of the products. Mushrooms are considered as next-generation healthy food components. Owing to their low content of fat, high-quality proteins, dietary fibre and the presence of nutraceuticals, they are ideally preferred in formulation of low-caloric functional foods. There is a growing trend to fortify muscle food with edible mushrooms to harness their goodness in terms of nutritive, bioactive and therapeutic values. The incorporation of mushrooms in muscle foods assumes significance, as it is favourably accepted by consumers because of its fibrous structure that mimics the texture with meat analogues offering unique taste and umami flavour. This review outlines the current knowledge in the literature about the nutritional richness, functional bioactive compounds and medicinal values of mushrooms offering various health benefits. Furthermore, the effects of functional ingredients of mushrooms in improving the quality and sensory attributes of nutritionally superior and next-generation healthier muscle food products are also highlighted in this paper.

Optimum Additive Composition to Minimize Fat in Functional Goat Meat Nuggets: A Healthy Red Meat Functional Food

Optimally designed functional foods are considered the most important part of a balanced and healthy diet. Goat meat nuggets, an otherwise healthy option, are packed with undesirable saturated and unsaturated fats. The present work suggests an optimal functional formulation to reduce the surplus fat content of goat meat nuggets by adding two optimally calculated functional ingredients, namely, fenugreek leaves (FL) and psyllium husk (PH). Response surface optimization was performed to determine the optimal content of the functional ingredients (FL and PH), resulting in minimum fat content without affecting the overall acceptability (OA) and other properties representing the taste and texture (e.g., ash content, pH, crude fiber content, and moisture content) of the nuggets. Functional additives at optimum levels successfully reduced the fat content of the weight-conserved nuggets by almost 39% compared with the control nuggets. Minimal and acceptable effects were observed regarding OA and other properties representative of the taste and texture of the nuggets. An optimally designed, fat-attenuated goat meat nugget formulation is therefore prescribed, which complies with the nutritional standards of a balanced diet.

Application of Pomegranate by-Products in Muscle Foods: Oxidative Indices, Colour Stability, Shelf Life and Health Benefits

In recent years, considerable importance is given to the use of agrifood wastes as they contain several groups of substances that are useful for development of functional foods. As muscle foods are prone to lipid and protein oxidation and perishable in nature, the industry is in constant search of synthetic free additives that help in retarding the oxidation process, leading to the development of healthier and shelf stable products. The by-products or residues of pomegranate fruit (seeds, pomace, and peel) are reported to contain bioactive compounds, including phenolic and polyphenolic compounds, dietary fibre, complex polysaccharides, minerals, vitamins, etc. Such compounds extracted from the by-products of pomegranate can be used as functional ingredients or food additives to harness the antioxidant, antimicrobial potential, or as substitutes for fat, and protein in various muscle food products. Besides, these natural additives are reported to improve the quality, safety, and extend the shelf life of different types of food products, including meat and fish. Although studies on application of pomegranate by-products on various foods are available, their effect on the physicochemical, oxidative changes, microbial, colour stabilizing, sensory acceptability, and shelf life of muscle foods are not comprehensively discussed previously. In this review, we vividly discuss these issues, and highlight the benefits of pomegranate by-products and their phenolic composition on human health.

Strategies to Improve Meat Products' Quality

Meat products represent an important component of the human diet, their consumption registering a global increase over the last few years. These foodstuffs constitute a good source of energy and some nutrients, such as essential amino acids, high biological value proteins, minerals like iron, zinc, selenium, manganese and B-complex vitamins, especially vitamin B12. On the other hand, nutritionists have associated high consumption of processed meat with an increased risk of several diseases. Researchers and processed meat producers are involved in finding methods to eliminate nutritional deficiencies and potentially toxic compounds, to obtain healthier products and at the same time with no affecting the sensorial quality and safety of the meat products. The present review aims to summarize the newest trends regarding the most important methods that can be applied to obtain high-quality products. Nutritional enrichment with natural bioactive plant compounds (antioxidants, dietary fibers) or probiotics, reduction of harmful components (salt, nitrate/nitrite, N-nitrosamines) and the use of alternative technologies (high-pressure processing, cold plasma, ultrasounds) are the most used current strategies to accomplish this aim.

Combined effects of ε-polylysine and ε-polylysine nanoparticles with plant extracts on the shelf life and quality characteristics of nitrite-free frankfurter-type sausages

In this study, ɛ-polylysine (ɛ-PL) or ɛ-polylysine nanoparticle (ɛ-PLN) combined with plants extracts (including green tea, olive leaves and stinging nettle extracts) were used as nitrite replacers in frankfurter-type sausages. The sausage samples were wrapped in polyethylene bags (in vacuum conditions) and their physicochemical, microbiological and sensory properties were evaluated during 45 days of refrigerated storage. The results showed that the incorporation of ɛ-polylysine had no significant effects on proximate composition of sausages. However, ɛ-PL and ɛ-PLN sausages had significantly (P < 0.05) lower lightness, redness and higher yellowness compared to control samples. At the end of storage, sausages formulated with ɛ-PLN had significantly (P < 0.05) higher contents of phenolic compounds and lowest TBARS values. Microbiological counts also indicated that ɛ-PLN displayed significantly higher inhibitory effects. Higher sensory indices were obtained in ɛ-PLN sausages. Based on the obtained results, ɛ-PLN was effective to improve frankfurter-type sausages shelf life. Therefore, these ingredients could be useful for frankfurter-type sausages production as nitrite replacers.

Probing the Functionality of Physically Modified Corn Flour as Clean Label Thickening Agent with a Multiscale Characterization

A multilevel and multianalytical approach, combining both traditional and unconventional analytical tools, was used to characterize two physically modified (heated and heated-extruded) corn flours to be used as a "clean label" food ingredient. Physical treatments decreased the resistant starch content and increased the water holding capacity and water binding capacity, more extensively in the product subjected to heating-extrusion, as compared to an untreated control. Heated-extruded flour had the highest ability to form homogeneous systems in cold water while all modified flours produced homogeneous systems when mixed with hot water. Systems made with heated-extruded flour were "more rigid" than other samples at all levels of investigation as they were harder (macroscopic) and had higher storage modulus (mesoscopic), as well as lower proton 1H mobility (molecular). Overall, the results highlighted the ability of the multiscale method to give a thorough overview of the flour-water interactions and showed highest water affinity of heated-extruded flour. Heated-extruded flour was then tested in three real-food industrial applications (carrot soup, tomato sauce and a meat patty), where it was successfully implemented as a clean label thickening agent.

Beetroot and radish powders as natural nitrite source for fermented dry sausages

The aim of this study was to investigate the use of radish and beetroot powders as potential substitutes of nitrite in fermented dry sausages due to their high nitrate content (around 16,000 and 14,000 mg/kg, respectively). Six treatments were prepared and evaluated during the ripening process and storage time: C1 (control with 150 mg/kg sodium nitrite and 150 mg/kg sodium nitrate), C2 (control without sodium nitrite/nitrate), R05 (0.5% radish powder), R1 (1% radish powder), B05 (0.5% beetroot powder) and B1 (1% beetroot powder). The addition of vegetable powders influenced moisture content, weight loss and water activity of sausages. Nitrite was formed from radish and beetroot powders during the ripening process, especially in R1 and B1 treatments. Beetroot powder affected colour, pigments and lactic acid bacteria counts. The results of pH, colour, lipid oxidation, nitrite and nitrate analysis suggest R1 treatment as a potential nitrite replacer obtained from a simple and feasible drying process.

Application of nanoemulsion-based approaches for improving the quality and safety of muscle foods: A comprehensive review

Recently, there has been growing interest in implementing innovative nanoscience-based technologies to improve the health, safety, and quality of food products. A major thrust in this area has been to use nanoemulsions because they can easily be formulated with existing food ingredients and technologies. In particular, oil-in-water nanoemulsions, which consist of small oil droplets (<200 nm) dispersed in water, are being utilized as delivery systems for various hydrophobic substances in foods, including nutrients, nutraceuticals, antioxidants, antimicrobials, colors, and flavors. In this article, we focus on the application of nanoemulsion-based delivery systems for improving the quality, safety, nutritional profile, and sensory attributes of muscle foods, such as meat and fish. The article also critically reviews the formulation and fabrication of food-grade nanoemulsions, their potential benefits and limitations in muscle food systems.

Application of Enoki Mushroom (Flammulina Velutipes) Stem Wastes as Functional Ingredients in Goat Meat Nuggets

The impact of different amounts (2%, 4% and 6%) of enoki (Flammulina velutipes) mushroom stem waste (MSW) powder on the physicochemical quality, color and textural, oxidative stability, sensory attributes and shelf-life of goat meat nuggets was evaluated. These mushroom by-products (MSW powder) contained a good source of protein (13.5%), ash (8.2%), total phenolics content (6.3 mg GAE/g), and dietary fiber (32.3%) and also exhibited the potential to be strong antioxidants, due to their good metal chelating ability (41.3%), reducing power (60.1%), and free radical scavenging activity (84.2%). Mushroom stem waste improved (p < 0.05) the emulsion stability, dietary fiber, ash and phenolics content of nuggets compared to control. Although no significant differences (p > 0.05) in expressible water and textural properties were observed among the formulations, but MSW powder improved the water holding capacity and slightly decreased the hardness. Further, the inclusion of MSW significantly (p < 0.05) improved the oxidative stability and shelf-life of treated nuggets by reducing lipid oxidation during the nine-day storage period. Again, the inclusion of MSW did not negatively affect the color and sensory attributes of treated meat nuggets. Overall, our results suggest that enoki mushroom stem waste (4%) can be used as a value-added functional ingredient to produce nutritionally improved and healthier meat products.

Propolis Extract as Antioxidant to Improve Oxidative Stability of Fresh Patties during Refrigerated Storage

The effect of propolis ethanol extract (PEE), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), and ascorbic acid (Asc) against lipid (Lox) and protein oxidation (Pox), color deterioration, and the antioxidant stabilizer of raw beef and pork patties during chilled storage (9 days at 2 °C/under darkness) was investigated. Total phenolic content (TPC), reducing power ability (RPA), DPPH^● radical scavenging activity (FRSA) of the PEE was evaluated. Meat samples were evaluated for pH, Lox (TBARS), Pox (Carbonyls), color (L*, a*, b*, C*, and h*), metmyoglobin formation (MMb), TPC, RPA, and FRSA. Results indicated that PEE is rich in phenolic content and antioxidant activity, and their incorporation in beef and pork patties reduced (p < 0.05) Lox and Pox (TBARS-88.7 and 80% inhibition; Pox-47.3 and 30.6% inhibition, respectively), as well as loss of color and increased the oxidative stability throughout storage.

Dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus) peel as antioxidant dietary fibre on quality and lipid oxidation of chicken nuggets

In this study, the efficacy of dragon fruit peel (DFP) powder as antioxidant dietary fibre (ADF), at two different concentrations (T1-1.5% and T2-3.0%), on quality improvement and susceptibility to lipid oxidation of chicken nuggets during 20 days of refrigerated storage was assessed. DFP, rich in dietary fibre (56.91%) with higher insoluble dietary fibre, phenolics (36-39 mgGAE/100 g) content and possessing good radical scavenging activity as well as reducing power, contained 10.36% protein, 4.48% fat and 2.34% ash. HPLC analysis revealed presence of high concentrations of gallic and ferulic acid, among the phenolics. Incorporation of DFP in nuggets although decreased the pH but improved emulsion stability as well as cooking yield and had higher protein, ash and lower fat content. Further, the treated nuggets had significantly (p < 0.05) higher dietary fibre and total phenolics content than control. Incorporation of DFP decreased the hardness, gumminess and chewiness and improved (p < 0.05) the products' redness values. Sensory evaluation of the products revealed significant improvement in the appearance score and non-significant (p > 0.05) increase in the scores of other attributes compared to control samples. DFP significantly decreased lipid peroxidation, odour scores and microbial load in chicken nuggets during 20 days of storage period. From the study, it could be deduced that DFP rich in bioactive components had positive influence on the nutritional quality of chicken nuggets and could also be used as ADF in muscle food without affecting the quality and acceptability of products.

A Comprehensive Review on Lipid Oxidation in Meat and Meat Products

Meat and meat products are a fundamental part of the human diet. The protein and vitamin content, as well as essential fatty acids, gives them an appropriate composition to complete the nutritional requirements. However, meat constituents are susceptible to degradation processes. Among them, the most important, after microbial deterioration, are oxidative processes, which affect lipids, pigments, proteins and vitamins. During these reactions a sensory degradation of the product occurs, causing consumer rejection. In addition, there is a nutritional loss that leads to the formation of toxic substances, so the control of oxidative processes is of vital importance for the meat industry. Nonetheless, despite lipid oxidation being widely investigated for decades, the complex reactions involved in the process, as well as the different pathways and factors that influenced them, make that lipid oxidation mechanisms have not yet been completely understood. Thus, this article reviews the fundamental mechanisms of lipid oxidation, the most important oxidative reactions, the main factors that influence lipid oxidation, and the routine methods to measure compounds derived from lipid oxidation in meat.