Ultraviolet-radiation technology for preservation of meat and meat products: Recent advances and future trends

Meat is nutrient-dense and susceptible to microorganism contamination during manufacturing, processing, and storage, leading to spoilage and even food poisoning. Traditional food processing techniques have limitations in inactivating microorganisms in food, which usually result in diminished food quality, low consumer acceptance and the growth of some potentially toxic substances (carcinogens). In recent years, the emergence of non-thermal technologies (ultraviolet (UV) treatment, cold plasma, high pressure technology, pulsed electric field, ultrasonic treatment, etc.) has attracted the interest of a large number of researchers. UV radiation is a promising non-thermal technology for microbial inactivation in foods, and its great efficiency and environmental friendliness enables researchers to employ UV light to circumvent the limits of conventional procedures. However, a comprehensive review of recent applications of UV technology in meat and meat products is still absent. This review discusses the classification, pathogen inactivation effect and mechanism of UV radiation on meat products, and also the induced quality changes of meat products. It was concluded that UV radiation has a high bactericidal effect on various microorganisms in meat processing primarily by stimulating DNA or RNA to form pyrimidine dimers and causing cell death, but has little or no significant influence on the quality of meat and meat products, depending on the selection of different treatment parameters. This review provides important information for the application and development of UV radiation in meat products, which will be beneficial for the meat safety and quality control in future.