Reducing lipid peroxidation for improving colour stability of beef and lamb: on-farm considerations

Meat colour and lipid stability are important sensory properties. Myoglobin oxidation is correlated with lipid oxidation, and one can exacerbate the occurrence of the other. Approaches to reduce both oxidative processes could focus on minimising oxidising agents in meat. In on-farm practices, dietary supplementation of antioxidants is a useful approach for improving lipid stability and then meat colour stability, and further improvement could be a combination of using hydrophobic and hydrophilic antioxidants. Genetic variations in the endogenous antioxidant systems could be identified for the development of a breeding strategy to bring a long-term benefit to the meat industry. To have a better understanding of oxidative stress and oxidation of long chain unsaturated fatty acids in live animals, the isoprostanes could be measured as an effective marker in vivo.