Display stability of fresh and thawed lamb supplemented with vitamin E or sprayed with an antioxidant borage seed extract

• Published in: Journal of the science of food and agriculture Vol. 98; no. 8; pp. 2871 - 2879
• Main Authors: Bellés, Marc, Alonso, Verónica, Roncalés, Pedro, Beltrán, Jose A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01-06-2018; John Wiley and Sons, Limited
• Subjects: Acetic acid; Antioxidants; Atmosphere; Bone marrow; bone marrow darkening; Color; colour; Commercialization; Darkening; Diet; display; Distributors; Freezing; Lamb; lipid oxidation; Lipid peroxidation; Lipids; Meat; Melting; Microorganisms; modified atmosphere packaging; Oxidation; Peroxidation; Spraying; Stability analysis; Thawing; Thiobarbituric acid; Tocopherol; Vitamin E; modified atmosphere packaging; colour; lipid oxidation; freezing; bone marrow darkening; display
• ISSN: 0022-5142; 1097-0010
• DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.8780

BACKGROUND
The commercialization of thawed lamb packaged in modified atmosphere and maintained on display could serve as an alternative capable of satisfying the requirements of both customers and distributors. However, previous studies have suggested that lipid oxidation may accelerate post‐thawing because peroxidation occurs during frozen storage, thereby leading to rapid and severe secondary lipid oxidation. The addition of an antioxidant compound either in the lamb diet or in the packaged meat could resolve this problem. Therefore, the present study aimed to compare the effect of dietary vitamin E (1000 mg of dl‐α‐tocopheryl acetate per kg of basal diet) and the spraying of borage seed aqueous extract (10% p/v) on the quality of fresh and thawed lamb leg chops.
RESULTS
Both borage extract and vitamin E improved colour (as measured via instrumental and visual assessment of colour) and lipid stability (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances) of fresh and thawed lamb throughout display, although neither of them had any antimicrobial effect. Freezing/thawing accelerated bone marrow darkening and reduced redness but delayed microbial growth.
CONCLUSION
Both of these antioxidant strategies would be very profitable for the preservation of lamb meat, allowing thawed meat packaged in a modified atmosphere to be commercialized. However, additional studies should be carried out to determine how bone darkening in thawed chops can be avoided. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry