Abstract

Lipid and myoglobin oxidations significantly impair the quality of foods of animal origin because these reactions deteriorate flavor and color, induce the loss of nutritional value and cause technological problems during processing. Lipid and myoglobin oxidations are coupled and such reactions can occur via non-enzymatic and enzymatic routes. Several factors have been reported to enhance the oxidation of lipid in muscle foods including species, muscle type, fatty acid composition, endogenous antioxidants (AH), temperature, metal ions, sodium chloride, muscle pH, and processing parameters. It is most likely that the prooxidant effect of heme proteins, especially myoglobin, is a prime factor influencing the lipid oxidation in muscle foods. On the other hand, lipid oxidation results in a wide range of aldehyde products, which can cause the oxidation of myoglobin. The interaction between myoglobin and aldehydic lipid oxidation products can alter myoglobin redox stability and finally results in muscle discoloration. As a consequence, the oxidation of both lipid and myoglobin directly affect the quality and acceptability of muscle foods and those reactions seems to promote each other.