Design and Development of Healthier and Functional Meat Products
摘要
By modifying the original formulations (recipes) of various meat products, their nutritional and functional properties are improved. This is achieved by changing the ratio of meat, fatty tissue, and water and/or replacing them with ingredients of better nutritional properties. Also, in parallel with this, the content of additives (table salt and additives) is reduced and/or they are replaced with other and natural additives, also of better nutritional properties. Modifying these products represents a great challenge and is not simple, as it is necessary to obtain products with better nutritional and functional properties, with the same or slightly changed sensory characteristics. The growing interest in replacing potentially harmful synthetic additives added to meat favors the use of plant extracts (herbs, fruits, and vegetables), as an endless source of bioactive substances with strong antioxidant and antimicrobial action. These extracts can be used in fresh meat or in meat products, as well as in animal feed. Reformulation strategies strengthen and ensure consumer readiness to pay a higher price for their demands for the naturalness of meat products without synthetic additives, labeled as “clean label”. To better understand the problem of designing and creating such products, and before presenting the properties of modified products, the next four chapters will present the technological processes of producing the mentioned groups of meat products with a special emphasis on the importance of ingredients that are changed, their impact on product quality and the preservation or improvement of human health.