Abstract:
With the increase in global meat consumption over the past few decades, the meat industry
has evolved into an era of seeking innovative methods to improve the health-promoting
attributes of meat while eliminating the synthetic ingredients that can cause negative health
impacts to consumers. Plant polyphenols have been highly used in the development of
functional foods recently due to their antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Controlling
the activities of oxidized compounds in meat, and preservation of meat by inhibition of
microbial activities and oxidation reactions to reduce the use of synthetic additives are the
main focused aspects regarding the development of meat products by incorporating plant
polyphenols. Encapsulation is an effective technology that can deliver polyphenols into
foods with improved stability and bioavailability while masking unfavorable flavors and
odors. The objective of this review is to summarize the importance of using encapsulated
polyphenols in meat products and recent advancements in the production of various meat
products incorporating encapsulated polyphenols. Spray-dried or freeze-dried
microencapsulation, nano-liposomes, nano-gels, coacervation, and emulsions are the most
studied methods in encapsulating polyphenols. In summary, by now, encapsulated
polyphenols of Mulberry, Bay leaf, Rosemary, Garlic, Thyme oil, and Tea leaf have been
successfully used in different meat products to achieve the above goals, and various other
plant polyphenols are also extensively studied in this perspective.
