OPEN ACCESS International Journal of Meat Science

ISSN 2071-7113DOI: 10.3923/ijmeat.2017.1.5

Review ArticleUse of Natural Antioxidants in Muscle Foods and their Benefitsin Human Health: An Overview1A.R. Sen and 2P.K. Mandal

1ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Education Salt Lake, 700 009 Kolkata, India2Department of Livestock Products Technology, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Veterinary Education and Research, 605 009 Pondicherry, India

AbstractMeat and meat products, especially fish and poultry is more prone to oxidation. Lipid oxidation in meat and fish-products leads to rancidityand off-flavor and development of many harmful substances. Antioxidants provide protection by neutralizing free radicals, which are toxicby-products of natural cell metabolism. Synthetic antioxidants have been successfully used to block or delay the oxidation process inmeat and fish. To prevent or delay oxidation reactions, several endogenous antioxidant systems are found in muscle tissue. Amines,peptides and amino acids are known to have significant antioxidant properties. Due to the potential health hazards of syntheticantioxidants, natural products, especially natural antioxidants have been intensively examined. Use of natural antioxidants is emergingas an effective methodology for controlling rancidity and limiting its deleterious consequences. Thus, most of the recent study has beendirected towards identification of novel antioxidants from natural sources, particularly of plant origin. This study suggested about theendogenous antioxidants in fish meat, the potential of natural antioxidants and their beneficial role for human health.

Key words: Muscle foods, poultry, fish, lipid oxidation, rancidity, synthetic antioxidant, natural antioxidants, health benefits

Received: September 01, 2016 Accepted: November 21, 2016 Published: December 15, 2016

Citation: A.R. Sen and P.K. Mandal, 2017. Use of natural antioxidants in muscle foods and their benefits in human health: An overview. Int. J. Meat Sci.,7: 1-5.

Corresponding Author: P.K. Mandal, Department of Livestock Products Technology, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Veterinary Education and Research,605 009 Pondicherry, India

Copyright: © 2017 A.R. Sen and P.K. Mandal. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution License, whichpermits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Competing Interest: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists.

Data Availability: All relevant data are within the paper and its supporting information files.

Int. J. Meat Sci., 7 (1): 1-5, 2017

INTRODUCTION

Presently, consumers are very concerned about theirdiet and the food they eat and attention has been divertedtoward processed meat products that are lean, low fat andhigh in protein content1. Different reformulation strategies arebeing carried out to confer meat as functional food bymodifying its lipid and fatty acid content and/or byincorporating a series of functional ingredients like fiber,vegetable proteins, phytochemicals, prebiotics and othernatural antioxidants2. Lipid oxidation is a highly complexprocess in which polyunsaturated fatty acids after reactingwith molecular oxygen via a free radical chain mechanismform fatty acyl hydroperoxides, which are referred to as eithersimply peroxides or primary products of oxidation3. Thisprimary auto-oxidation is followed by a series of secondaryreactions thereby causing degradation of lipids anddevelopment of oxidative rancidity4. Phytochemicals fromplants in meat based products will be an interesting area forthe meat industry to explore as these functional extractswith antioxidative and antimicrobial properties are able toreplace the current usage of synthetic food additives in thedevelopment and improvement of healthy food products5.

All meat and fish products are prone to oxidation.Amongst meat products, poultry meat is more prone to thedevelopment of oxidative rancidity compared to red meat.This is due to the higher content of phospholipids in poultrymeat. During lipid oxidation poly-unsaturated fatty acids aredegraded to volatile short-chain oxidation products, which islead to off-odour and off-flavour formation6. Lipid oxidation inmeat and fish-products leads to rancidity and off-flavor anddevelopment of many different substances some of whichhave even adverse effects to human health7. The addition ofantioxidants is therefore necessary to increase storagestability, sensorial quality and nutritional value of muscle foodproducts. Beside the traditionally used antioxidants in meatand fish a wide variety of herbs, spices and fruits withantioxidative capacity are more and more used as additives.In addition to their antioxidative capacity, many of thesenatural substances have positive effects in the human bodyand health benefits are therefore, highly appreciated as foodadditives.

OXIDATION IN MUSCLE FOODS

Oxidation of muscle lipids, specifically unsaturatedfatty acids in triacyl-glycerols, phospholipids and cholesterolis a critical concern. The generation of peroxides, ReactiveOxygen Species (ROS) and secondary oxidation products has

implications for flavour, colour and loss of myofibrillar proteinfunctionality. All oxidative reactions generally result incompromised quality and an undesirable sensory experiencefor the consumer6. In general, oxidative susceptibility isdirectly proportional to the degree of unsaturation in theconstituentfatty acids.

Lipid oxidation is described as an oxygen-dependent,oxidative deterioration of saturated and unsaturated fattyacids. This modification of fatty acids is principally carriedout by an autocatalytic mechanism of free radicals, calledauto-oxidation and consisting of 3 phases: Initiation,propagation and termination. Lipids and their derivative fattyacids are present in muscles as structural components ofmuscle membranes, as storage droplets of tri-acylglycerolbetween muscle fibers and as adipose tissue. The form andnature of these fatty acids decide color stability, drip loss andthe development of oxidative rancidity, which ultimatelydecide the sensory and nutritional quality of meat products7.

Lipid oxidation is one of the most important changes thatcan affect the fish muscle, which has high proportion ofunsaturated lipids in the tissues and large amounts of hemepigments and metallic traces8. Oxidation of fish lipid leadsto the formation of volatile compounds associated withrancidity, which significantly reduces the shelf-life of fishproducts, most especially during storage period9. Furthermore,the reaction between lipid oxidation products and proteins,amino acids or vitamins can alter the texture of the fish andreduce its nutritional value through the subsequent loss ofessential amino acids. The high proportion of long chainn-3 poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) found in fish is acrucial factor in the muscle’s high vulnerability to oxidation.Fish contain significantly higher levels of poly-unsaturatedfattyacids, particularly eicosa-pentaenoic (20:5 n-3) anddocosa-hexaenoic (22:6 n-3), than terrestrial animals10.Heme proteins, transition metals and lipoxygenases are theprimary endogenous components that have the ability topromote radical oxidative chain reactions in fish. The use ofantioxidants is an effective way to minimize or prevent lipidoxidation in food products, retarding the formation of toxicoxidation products, maintaining nutritional quality andprolonging the shelf life of foods11.

ENDOGENOUS FISH ANTIOXIDANTS

The antioxidant defense system of fish muscle is able tocontrol oxidation under normal in vivo conditions in such acomplicated matrix rich in PUFA, which is a substrate prone todevelop oxidative degradations and loaded with pro-oxidantsubstances. There are several natural compounds that

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participate in the antioxidative defense mechanism of fish.These include enzymes (catalase, peroxidase and glutathioneand superoxide dismutase), carotenoids, peptides, aminoacids and phenolic compounds (tocopherols, ubiquinones).These compounds are found in the cell plasma, mitochondriaof cell membranes12.

Amines, peptides and amino acids are known to havesignificant antioxidant properties. In general, they function assynergists or primary antioxidants. Amino acids, peptides andnucleotides are believed to be important metal chelatorspresent in fish. Amino acids are also suggested to haveantioxidant properties as reaction products with carbonylsfrom oxidizing lipids. Their antioxidant properties areattributed to the formation of reductone (enaminone)structures that have both reducing and metal complexingproperties. Furthermore, the basic amino acids (histidine,lysine and arginine) are known to produce the most effectiveantioxidant products with sugars13. Antioxidants may directlyor indirectly inhibit the initiation and propagation steps oflipid oxidation. They sometimes have multiple effects andtheir mechanisms of action are therefore often difficult tointerpret. According to their mode of action, antioxidants canbe categorized into preventive inhibitors and trueantioxidants.

ENDOGENOUS MEAT ANTIOXIDANTS

Skeletal muscle is susceptible to oxidative deteriorationdue to a combination of lipid oxidation catalysts andmembrane lipid systems that are high in unsaturated fattyacids. Biological tissues from which meat and fish is derivedare under constant oxidative stress from free radicals, reactiveoxygen species and pro-oxidants, hence, they developedantioxidant systems to protect from oxidative damage14. Toprevent or delay oxidation reactions, several endogenousantioxidant systems are found in muscle tissue. Theseinclude "-tocopherol, histidine containing dipeptides andantioxidant enzymes, such as glutathione peroxidase,superoxide dismutase and catalase.

The oxidative stability of skeletal muscle is also influencedby the histidine containing di-peptides, carnosine andanserine. In pigs, beef and turkey muscle, carnosineconcentrations are greater than anserine, while the oppositeis true in rabbit and chicken muscle. Anserine and carnosineare found in greater concentrations in muscle high in whitefibers with chicken white muscle containing over 5-fold moreanserine and carnosine than red muscle. The antioxidantmechanism of carnosine and anserine involves both metalchelation and free radical scavenging. Carnosine is capable

of chelating metals, yet its chelating activity is dependent onmetal ion type. Studies on the oxidation of bio-molecules andthe NMR spectra of carnosine indicate that carnosine chelatescopper much more strongly than iron15.

USE OF SYNTHETIC ANTIOXIDANTS

Antioxidants can prevent lipid peroxidation using thefollowing mechanisms: Preventing chain inhibition byscavenging initiating radicals, breaking chain reaction,decomposing peroxides, decreasing localized oxygenconcentrations and binding chain initiating catalysts, such asmetal ions16. The antioxidants can be of synthetic or naturalorigin. In industrial processing, mainly synthetic antioxidants,such as butylated-hydroxy-anisole, butylated-hydroxy-tolueneand propyl-gallate are used in order to prolong the storagestability of food. However, the demand for naturalantioxidants has recently increased because of the toxicityand carcinogenicity of synthetic antioxidants17.

Synthetic antioxidants have been successfully used toblock or delay the oxidation process in meat and fish. Inaddition to their ability to increase lipid stability, antioxidantsadded to foods may have ability to reduce the risk of variousdiseases related to the production of free radicals. Manyresearchers have indicated that lipid oxidation in meatproducts can be controlled or minimized by the addition ofcommercial synthetic antioxidants18. Although, syntheticadditives have been widely used in the meat and fish industryto inhibit lipid oxidation and microbial growth, the recenttrend is to decrease their use because of the growing concernamong consumers about such chemical additives.

USE OF NATURAL ANTIOXIDANTS

The use of natural antioxidants is emerging as an effectivemethodology for controlling rancidity and limiting itsdeleterious consequences. Natural phenolic compounds withantioxidant activity, such as rosemary extract, tea catechin,tannins, etc. have been gaining attention due to their safetyand efficacy19. Due to the potential health hazards of syntheticantioxidants, natural products, especially natural antioxidantshave been intensively examined as safe alternatives tosynthetic compounds. Polyphenols (PP) are the naturalantioxidants prevalent in fruits, vegetables, beverages (tea,wine, juices), plants, seaweeds and some herbs and showantioxidative and antimicrobial activities in different fish andfish products. The major active nutraceutical ingredients inplants are flavonoids. As is typical for phenolic compounds,they can act as potent antioxidants and metal chelators. They

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also have long been recognized to possess anti-inflammatory,antiallergic, hepatoprotective, antithrombotic, antiviral andanticarcinogenic activities19.

Grape seed extracts contain a number of polyphenolsincluding procyanidins and proanthocyanidins are powerfulfree radical scavengers. It has been investigated in vitro, suchas cooked beef20, pork patties21 and chicken meat patties22. Teacatechins are polyphenolic antioxidants which possess arange of health promoting properties. Tea catechins havedemonstrated significant antioxidant, anti-carcinogenic,anti-mutagenic properties in several in vitro studies relatedto human and animals. Tea polyphenols are metal chelatingagents and also act on free radicals, since their benzene rings,inhibit chain reactions during lipid oxidation21.

Seaweeds are considered to be a rich source ofantioxidants. Recently, the potential antioxidant compoundswere identified as some pigments (fucoxanthin, astaxanthin,carotenoid etc.) and polyphenols (phenolic acid, flavonoid,tannins etc.). Those compounds are widely distributed inplants or seaweeds and they exhibit higher antioxidantactivities. Seaweeds are noted to contain not only labileantioxidants (i.e., ascorbate, glutathione) when fresh but also,more stable molecules, such as carotenoids, mycosporine likeamino acids and a variety of polyphenols like catechins andphlorotannins22. Further, the evidence available in theliterature suggests the potential protective effects ofseaweeds against oxidative stress in target tissues and lipidoxidation in foods23.

ANTIOXIDANTS AND HUMAN HEALTH

Oxygen has double-edged properties, being essential forlife, it can also aggravate the damage within the cell byoxidative events24. A free radical can be defined as anymolecular species capable of independent existence thatcontains an unpaired electron in an atomic orbital. Freeradicals and its adverse effects were discovered in the lastdecade. These harmful substances are produced during thenormal metabolic processes in the body along with toxinsand wastes. Free radicals are generated during oxidation ofcarbohydrates, fats and proteins through both aerobic andanaerobic process. The studies to understand the role offree-radical reactions in human disease, biology, toxicologyand in the deterioration of food has become an area of intenseinterest. Unsaturated lipid molecules of cell membranes andother biological molecules including RNA, DNA and proteinenzymes are susceptible to oxidative damage.

The term Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) is often used toinclude not only the radicals OHG, RO2G, NOG and O2 but also

the non-radicals HOCl, O2, ONOOG, O3 and H2O2. “Oxidativestress” is the term that refers to the imbalance betweengeneration of ROS and the activity of the antioxidantdefenses. Severe oxidative stress can cause cell damage anddeath25. A role of oxidative stress has been postulated in manyconditions, including atherosclerosis, inflammatory condition,certain cancers and the process of aging. Oxidative stress isnow thought to make a significant contribution to allinflammatory diseases (arthritis, vasculitis, glomerulonephritis,lupus erythematous, adult respiratory diseases syndrome),ischemic diseases (heart diseases, stroke, intestinal ischema),hemochromatosis, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome,emphysema, organ transplantation, gastric ulcers,hypertension and pre-eclampsia, neurological disorder andmany others26.

An antioxidant is a molecule stable enough to donate anelectron to a rampaging free radical and neutralize it, thusreducing its capacity to damage. Antioxidants provideprotection by neutralizing free radicals, which are toxicby-products of natural cell metabolism. Some of suchantioxidants, including glutathione, ubiquinol and uric acidare produced during normal metabolism in the body. Otherlighter antioxidants are found in the diet. The body cannotmanufacture the micronutrients, so they must be supplied inthe diet. Increased intake of antioxidants can prevent diseasesand lower the health problems. Foods may possibly enhanceantioxidant levels because they contain a lot of antioxidantsubstances27. Antioxidants study to protect lipids fromper-oxidation by free radicals and this can be defined as amolecule stable enough to donate an electron to a freeradical and neutralize it, thus reducing its capacity todamage28.

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE RECOMMENDATION

The damage by free radicals contributes to the etiologyof many chronic health problems such as cardiovascular andinflammatory diseases, cataract and different types of cancers.Antioxidants prevent free radical induced tissue damage bypreventing the formation of radicals, scavenging them or bypromoting their decomposition. Synthetic antioxidants arerecently reported to be dangerous to human health. Thus,the search for effective, non-toxic natural compounds withantioxidative activity has been intensified in recent years.There has been a huge demand for natural antioxidantsmainly because of adverse toxicological reports on manysynthetic compounds. Thus, most of the recent study has beendirected towards identification of novel antioxidants fromnatural sources, particularly of plant origin. Although these

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extracts are derived from plant generally regarded as safebut further study is needed to determine their safe limits andtoxicological effects in meat and fish products as theextraction or processing conditions may alter their properties.

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