The application of antioxidants is an effective strategy to mitigate quality deterioration in meat and meat products during production and processing. Plant-derived natural antioxidants are characterized by wide sources, environmental friendliness, safety and excellent antioxidant properties, which satisfy the demand of consumers for healthier meat products. Consequently, they represent a prominent research focus in meat science. Therefore, this article summarizes the mechanisms by which natural antioxidants inhibit lipid, protein and myoglobin oxidation, the application of common natural antioxidants in meat and meat products and their impacts on product quality. The mechanism underlying the effects of plant polyphenols on the structure and functional properties of muscle protein are also summarized. This review aims to provide references for the application of natural antioxidants in the meat industry.

Thawing is an important step before the processing or cooking of meat. However, improper thawing technologies will lead to the deterioration of meat quality in some aspects. Therefore, it is very necessary to develop highly cost-effective thawing technologies. After the traditional and new thawing technologies, some unique and innovative ones have emerged in recent years. In addition to briefly summarizing the thawing process and common thawing technologies of meat, this paper reviews these unique thawing technologies including the inspiration for their development, their working principles and related research. Meanwhile, some suggestions for the development of thawing technologies in the future are put forward. The purpose of this paper is to provide a reference for the selection and optimization of the proper thawing technologies for meat and meat products.

The effect of fat replacement with whey protein isolate-soybean oil pre-emulsions stabilized by ethanol and rutin on the quality of low-fat meatballs was studied. By measuring the emulsion stability, texture, viscosity, particle size and rheological characteristics of pre-emulsions, the best concentration of soybean oil in pre-emulsions was selected. The fat in meatballs was replaced at proportions of 0% (control), 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%, and the best fat replacement proportion was determined by measuring the cooking loss, color difference, texture, volatile compounds, viscosity, and sensory and antioxidant properties. The results showed that the pre-emulsion with soybean oil content of 72% had the best emulsion stability, good gel morphology and the highest viscosity; when the soybean oil concentration exceeded 72%, the particle size of pre-emulsions increased and the elastic modulus decreased. Compared with the control group, the cooking loss, the ΔE value, texture, viscosity and sensory score of meatballs with 25% fat replacement had no significant changes, and the content of off-odor compounds such as nitrogen oxides, methyl compounds and sulfide did not increase. On the 9th day of storage, the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARs) value of all samples with fat replacement was significantly lower than that of the control group (P < 0.05). Therefore, whey protein isolate pre-emulsions containing 72% soybean oil was the best fat replacer, and the best replacement level was 25%.

Healthy meat products are more in line with the current consumption concepts. The advantages of edible mushrooms in terms of functional polysaccharides, proteins and bioactive compounds make them an ideal choice for improving the nutritional status of meat products. This paper reviews recent advances in the application of edible mushrooms as animal fat, protein and salt (chloride sodium, phosphate and nitrite) substitutes, flavor additives and natural antioxidants in meat products, and presents an outlook on the future directions in this field. It is expected that this review will support the development of new meat products such as healthy and “clean label” products.

Meat broth tastes delicious and contains abundant nutrients. Besides, it can stimulate the secretion of digestive juice and improve appetite. Beginning with an overview of the nutritional components and their existing forms in meat broth, this paper focuses on the formation characteristics and roles of micro/nanoparticles and the formation process of the self-emulsifying system in meat broth. Meanwhile, the interactions among proteins, carbohydrates, fats, amino acids, and carbonyl compounds and their effects on the formation of meat broth flavor are clarified. In addition, the influence of processing methods on the flavor of meat broth and the methods to analyze and detect flavor substances in meat broth are reviewed. It is expected that this review will provide a theoretical basis for understanding the interaction mechanisms between key nutrient components and flavor regulation mechanism in Chinese traditional broth.

The dynamic migration of nutrients and the release of flavor molecules are important for the preparation of broth. Current research on broth focuses on its nutritional characteristics and flavor components. This paper interprets the migration patterns of key components such as protein, total sugar, fatty acid and nucleic acid in the cooking process of broth, and gives an overview of flavor adjustment depending on the dissolution of key components during the cooking of both. Moreover, it reviews the application of omics in studies on broth flavor. It is expected that this review will provide a theoretical basis for further research on the nutritional properties and flavor of broth.

Flavor is one of the most important sensory attributes for consumers to judge the quality and acceptability of meat, and its formation is a complex biochemical reaction process. Fat is an important tissue in muscle and a precursor for the formation of flavor substances. Its hydrolysis, thermal decomposition, oxidation and Maillard reactions produce aldehydes, ketones and alcohols contributing to the characteristic flavor of meat. From the perspective of animal fat, this article summarizes the effect of fatty acid composition on flavor regulation, and the mechanism by which fat participates in flavor formation. In addition, the factors influencing the contribution of fat to flavor formation are summarized from the perspectives of cooking methods, processing methods, maturation environment and the interaction between fat and other ingredients. It is expected that this review will provide a theoretical reference for regulating the flavor quality of meat products with animal fat.

Charcoal-grilled food is favored for its strong roasted and nutty aroma, and grilled lamb’s flavor characteristics are significantly affected by compounds such as 2,5-dimethylpyrazine (2,5-DMP). This study explored the formation and reactivity of 2,5-DMP in the grilled lamb using food and model reaction systems integrated with density functional theory (DFT). Grilling experiments were performed at (180 ± 5) °C with controlled time intervals (0–30 min), while DFT calculations employed the 6-311G (d,p) basis set to analyze molecular interactions. The results showed that a total of 36 aroma compounds were identified during grilling. The 2,5-DMP concentration peaked at 25 min. The model reaction systems confirmed glycine and glucose as primary precursors, producing 339.51 ng of 2,5-DMP. The DFT analysis identified glucose’s C5–OH group and glycine’s –NH₂ group as key reactive sites, facilitating the nucleophilic and electrophilic interactions. It revealed low activation energy and high reactivity, elucidating the reaction pathway involving nucleophilic substitution, dehydration, and condensation. This study provides novel insights into 2,5-DMP formation mechanisms and offers a foundation for optimizing grilling processes to enhance the aroma and sensory quality of meat products.

Food flavor is an important attribute of high-quality foods. The consumers’ preference for foods is largely determined by taste and smell perception. The traditional food flavor evaluation methods include sensory evaluation, smart devices and instrumental analysis methods. Sensory evaluation is reliable but prone to taste fatigue and individual subjectivity. The structure of smart devices is complex, and there are some differences between the working principle and the actual taste transmission, resulting in limited applications. The cell-based biosensor is a new method to detect and evaluate food flavor that integrates living cells as sensitive elements, transducers and signal processing devices. They show the advantages of high sensitivity, good selectivity and fast response and have become a hotspot in the field of biosensors. Based on a review of recent research achievements, this paper briefly introduces the concept and basic structure of cellbased biosensors, and focuses on the results of research in the field of taste and smell evaluation and their application. The perception and transmission mechanisms in practical application are elucidated, and the flavor perception information for foods that has been obtained by researchers is summarized. Finally, the problems existing in the development of cell-based biosensors are discussed, and possible future trends are projected in food flavor evaluation.

In order to reduce the content of saturated fat in emulsified sausage, the effects of using flaxseed gum-linseed oil (FG-LO) emulsion to replace pork backfat at different proportions (25%, 50%, 75% and 100%) on the color, cooking loss, emulsion stability, texture, moisture distribution, lipid oxidation, microstructure and sensory quality of emulsified sausage were investigated. The emulsified sausage without fat replacement was used as control. The brightness (L* value) increased significantly (P < 0.05), and the redness (a* value) decreased significantly (P < 0.05) in the fat replacement groups when compared with the control group; however, the yellowness (b* value) did not significantly change (P > 0.05), and there was no obvious difference in the color observed by the naked eye. The lowest cooking loss and water loss were observed at replacement proportions of 100% and 75%, respectively, while the fat loss had no significant changes at different replacement proportions (P > 0.05). As the replacement level of fat increased, the hardness decreased gradually and the texture became soft, indicating that fat replacement improved the texture of emulsified sausage. After adding FG-LO emulsion, emulsified sausage exhibited the conversion of free water to immobilized water, indicating that FG could interact with meat proteins to form a three-dimensional network structure to lock water molecules, thus enhancing the water-holding capacity. The extent of lipid oxidation was enhanced by the addition of FG-LO emulsion. The results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the microstructure of the emulsified sausage with a replacement level of 25% was the most uniform and exquisite, with smaller pores. The sensory evaluation results showed that only the 100% replacement group was significantly different from the control group in terms of texture and overall acceptability (P < 0.05). The results of principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the emulsified sausage with 25% fat replacement was the most similar to the control group. Collectively, 75% fat replacement could reduce the cooking loss, increase the water-holding capacity (WHC), and result in the best emulsion stability and softer texture without causing any significant difference in the sensory quality of emulsified sausage.