Irradiation role on meat quality induced dynamic molecular transformation: From nutrition to texture

ABSTRACT

Irradiation was regarded as a promising green emerging technology to ensure the microbiological safety of food. Food irradiation used a controllable amount of ionizing radiation to ionize atoms or molecules in food, which was considered to be the main mechanism of the changes of exposed materials. Irradiation has been successfully applied for meat tenderization, extending shelf life and eliminating pathogenic, deteriorating microorganisms. However, its application has caused changes in physicochemical and biochemical aspects, affecting the nutritive value and sensory quality of irradiated meat. Moreover, irradiation combined with freezing, low temperature, and heating can mitigate adverse changes in the nutritive value and sensory quality of food. This review describes the potential applications of irradiation in meat systems in recent years, as well as changes in nutritive value, pH, tenderness, WHC, color and flavor of meat and meat products treated with irradiation. Subsequently, the results will contribute to establish the appropriate conditions for the scaling-up of irradiation technology to the industrial level.

KEYWORDS:

• Irradiation
• ionizing radiation
• emerging technology
• meat
• quality

Acknowledgments

The research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31801643), Scientific Research Program Funded by Shaanxi Province Education Department, China (No. 20JC004), Science and Technology Project of Xi’an City (No. 21NYYF0056), Science and Technology Project of Xianyang City (No. 2021ZDYF-NY-0025), Science and Technology Project of Weiyang District, Xi’an City (No. 201936) and Innovation Capability Support Program of Shaanxi (No. 2021KJXX-37).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [31801643]; Science and Technology Project of Xi’an City [21NYYF0056]; Innovation Capability Support Program of Shaanxi [2021KJXX-37]; Science and Technology Project of Weiyang District, Xi’an City [201936]; Science and Technology Project of Xianyang City [2021ZDYF-NY-0025]; Scientific Research Program Funded by Shaanxi Province Education Department, China [20JC004].