Meat products and functional food

Slaviša Stajić; Nikola Stanišić; Vladimir Kurćubić

doi:10.18485/meattech.2023.64.2.37

Slaviša Stajić University in Belgrafde - Faculty of Agricultural Science
Nikola Stanišić Institute for Animal Husbandry
Vladimir Kurćubić University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Agronomy

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18485/meattech.2023.64.2.37

Keywords: meat products, functional food, sodium reduction, additive replacement, n-3 fatty acids, dietary fibres

Abstract

Functional food is a term for food products fortified with ingredients that possess beneficial physiological effects. Meat products are characterized by relatively high salt, fat and saturated fatty acid contents. Moreover, phosphates and nitrites are also marked as potential harmful components. Designing meat products as functional food has been associated with replacement (and/or reduction) of these components with other, especially natural, ingredients that possess beneficial effects. The development of such products poses quite a challenge since it requires the creation of a product with improved functional properties and the same sensory quality as conventional ones. Results of numerous studies into improving the nutritional properties of meat products indicate that the meat industry has responded to the changes of lifestyle and perception of food.