Recent advances in meat oxidation

Producing safe, nutritious, appetizing, and healthy muscle foods for an expanding population is, no doubt, the primary challenge of the meat industry of the 21st century. Oxidative reactions remain a threat to meat quality owing their effects on fresh meat discoloration and the onset of rancidity and off-flavors in processed meat products. The efforts in counteracting these undesirable effects by innovative antioxidant solutions illustrate the economic impact of meat oxidation for the industry. Besides these classic issues, the oxidation of lipids and proteins has been found to be the main source of chemical species of toxicological concern. The remarkable advances made in the understanding of the molecular basis of these complex reactions have allowed emphasizing their biological consequences. The intake of oxidized lipids and proteins leads to a remarkable loss of nutritional value and the contribution to the onset of serious health concerns such as inflammatory and age-related diseases. In this regard, the collective efforts of studies of interdisciplinary nature have enabled a better understanding of the biochemistry of meat components not only during processing/storage, but also during digestion, in the gastrointestinal tract. The present chapter collects the knowledge gained in recent years in regard to meat oxidation and aims to enlighten scientists on the upcoming challenges.