Oxidative stability of fermented meat products

Meat and meat products, which form a major part of our diet, are very susceptible to quality changes resulting from oxidative processes. Quality of fermented food products depends on the course of various physicochemical and biochemical processes. Oxidation of meat components in raw ripening products may be the result of enzymatic changes occurring as a result of activity of enzymes originating in tissues and microorganisms, as well as lipid peroxidation by free radicals. Primary and secondary products of lipid oxidation are extremely reactive and react with other components of meat, changing their physical and chemical properties. Oxidised proteins take on a yellowish, red through brown hue. Products of lipid and protein degradation create a specific flavour and aroma ; furthermore, toxic substances (such as biogenic amines or new substances) are formed as a result of interactions between meat components, e.g. protein-lipid or protein-protein combinations, as well as transverse bonds in protein structures. Oxidation of meat components in raw ripening products is a particularly difficult process. On the one hand it is essential, since the enzymatic and non-enzymatic lipid oxidation creates flavour and aroma compounds characteristic for ripening products; on the other hand excessive amounts or transformations of those compounds may cause the fermented meat product to become a risk to health.