Meat research carried at Lincoln University and overseas consistently shows that consumers rank the colour of the meat as the most important factor that influences their choice of which meat to buy.
People prefer their meat to be coloured bright red.
There is a problem with this because as soon as meat is cut and packaged for sale, there are natural changes that occur and as a result the colour of meat changes to brown.
This colour change limits the shelf life of fresh meat products (people do not like the brown colour so retailers have to reduce the price), even though it does not affect the eating quality of the meat.
As one part of his large PhD project, Alaa el din Bekhit, from the Animal and Food Sciences Division at Lincoln University is working on finding out ways to overcome this problem.
Mr Bekhit's research involved the addition of a number of different novel antioxidants to beef patties. An antioxidant should inhibit or slow down the colour changing reaction.
He used the antioxidants carnosine, quercetin, rutin and resveratrol (added both wet and dry and at several different concentrations) to see which combination kept the meat red the longest.
After the colour of the patties was recorded, they were monitored during ten days of simulated supermarket shelf display. The amount of colour change was compared with the colour of an untreated patty (a control) and the biochemical factors behind any changes were investigated.
"I was pleased to find that the antioxidants I used did protect the meat from changing colour (the meat remained red longer)," said Mr Bekhit.
"It was exciting to be able to prove that not only were some antioxidants better than others, but also that the positive effect depended on the concentration of antioxidants used.
Mr Bekhit explained that the action of an antioxidant also depends on where it is used.
"Just because an antioxidant works well in one situation does not mean it will work in another."
Mr Bekhit said that it is important for consumers to realise that just because these antioxidants are natural compounds they still need to be used at the correct concentration otherwise they may not act the way they are intended to.
"As part of my work I wanted to find out which antioxidant worked best and that was resveratrol.
" All the antioxidants I used are found naturally in a wide range of common vegetables and fruits," said Mr Bekhit.
"While some people may prefer not to use any additives with fresh meat, recent meat research has indicated that the use of antioxidants with meat, especially polyphenols, has some health benefits."
Mr Bekhit's has presented his work at the international Meat Science and Technology Congress in Rome. He received funding from the International Congress of Meat Science and Technology (ICOMST) Travel Grant (Massey University and the Royal Society of New Zealand, Canterbury Branch) and the Animal and Food Sciences Division of Lincoln University.
For further information contact
Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury
Tel: (03) 3252811 ext 8549.
Email: Ian Collins
Janette Busch, Technical Writer, Animal and Food Sciences Division, Lincoln University, Canterbury
Tel: (03) 325 2811 ext 8114
Email: Janette Busch