Improving the nutritional value of meat products by the addition of polyunsaturated fatty acids and natural antioxidants

The study involved samples of meat products enriched with unsaturated fatty acids and a natural antioxidant. After performing the basic physical, chemical, and sensory analyses, the oxidation processes were monitored by checking (TBARS) thiobarbituric acid reactive substances scores. The samples were not significantly different in terms of quality parameters, but definite differences were noted in the progression of oxidation. The samples enriched only with unsaturated fatty acids showed a large increase in the TBARS scores in comparison to controls, whereas the samples enriched also with the natural antioxidant were very similar to controls. Adding the antioxidant alone had no effect on reducing the TBARS scores in the meat products not enriched also with unsaturated fatty acids.