Meat products, moving towards healthier solutions

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Reduction of salt content

The excessive salt consumption is a factor of risk for various pathologies, in particular the cardiovascular ones. Products derived from meat often contain high quantities of sodium chloride, therefore, various attempts for reducing this quantity were made, with no negative impacts on taste and so on the acceptability of the product by consumers: salt quantities lower than 1.5% are still not well accepted.  Sodium chloride can be partly substituted with less damaging products for the health such as potassium chloride (KCl), or the lack of salt can be “disguised” by introducing in the product other substances able to provoke intense taste stimuli (spices particularly hot such as peppers or mustard, smoking flavorings, etc.). It also has to be considered that the reduction of sodium chloride can have implications that go beyond taste: it is possible to have a negative impact also on product preservation and to the appropriate development of the aroma in the case of matured salami.

Addition of beneficial substances

In addition to the introduction of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) previously described, other beneficial substances that can be added to products made of meat are natural antioxidants. These substances also contribute to a higher stability and shelf life of the product because they protect its components (in particular the lipid one) from the oxidation stresses during the shelf life. The majority of these substances are extracted from vegetables rich in vitamin C, phenols and carotenoids. There are applications on meats that used lycopene from tomatoes; extracts of lotus seeds; extracts of fruit, flowers, roots, leaves such as cocoa, mate or green tea; etc. The efficacy of the antioxidant effect can be evaluated in various ways, among which the measurement of the quantity of free fatty acids, peroxides or TBARS (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, secondary products of oxidation processes) after a certain amount of shelf life. Some natural antioxidants also have a certain antimicrobial action, among which various substances contained in the essential oils of spices (for example, rosemary, which has been used for this reason for centuries), or substances recently discovered such as those extracted from the carob leaves, so that in this way it can contribute to the microbiological stabilization of the meat product.  As regards the method of incorporation of antioxidant substances, these can be directly added as ingredients of the product during production, or be part of its external cover (for example natural or synthetic sausage casing in the case of salami), because the external part of the product is obviously more subject to alterations. Also fibers can be added to products made of meat: they have not only beneficial properties for our organism (in particular for the gastrointestinal tract), but also interesting technological characteristics such as thickening properties, texturizing and water retention, often useful especially if low fat products are being formulated. Among those which found an application, there are inulin, beta-glucans, carrot or other vegetable fibers such as makgeolli lees (fermented liquid obtained from cereals).