Measurement of Antioxidant Capacity of Meat and Meat Products: Methods and Applications

At present, a wide variety of analytical methods is available to measure antioxidant capacity. However, this great diversity is not reflected in the analysis of meat and meat products, as there are a limited number of studies on determining this parameter in this complex food matrix. Despite this, and due to the interest in antioxidants that prevent oxidation reactions, the identification of antioxidants in meat and meat products is of special importance to the meat industry. For this reason, this review compiled the main antioxidant capacity assays employed in meat and meat products, to date, describing their foundations, and showing both their advantages and limitations. This review also looked at the different applications of antioxidant properties in meat and meat products. In this sense, the suitability of using these methodologies has been demonstrated in different investigations related to these foods.