Mushroom extract shows promise for meat preservative
Source of Article: http://www.foodnavigator.com/Science-Nutrition/Mushroom-extract-shows-promise-for-meat-preservative
By Stephen Daniells,
24-Feb-2009
An extract
from the edible mushroom Flammulina velutipes may prolong the shelf-life of tuna meat,
while also stabilising the colour of the meat, suggests new research from Japan.
Extracts from the
fungi would extend shelf-life
by up to six days during cold storage, compared to un-treated meat, according
to results published in the Journal of Food Science.
And since oxidative
spoilage of the fish is linked to colour, the extract was associated with
improved colour
stability of the meat, report the researchers from the Tokyo University of
Marine Science and Technology.
Riding the ‘natural’
wave
Oxidation processes in
food can lead to organoleptic deterioration in
taste, colour and texture. And fish products are particularly susceptible to
oxidation processes because of the high unsaturated lipid content.
The food industry has
long been aware of this, and is increasingly seeking natural solutions rather
than artificial additives, such as like butylhydroxyanisole
(BHA) and butylhydroxytoluene (BHT), to extend the
shelf life of milder-tasting products.
According to a 2003
report by Frost and Sullivan, the synthetic antioxidant market is in decline,
while natural antioxidants, such as herb extracts, tocopherols
(vitamin E) and ascorbates (vitamin C) are growing,
pushed by consumer desire acceptance and easier market access.
The study builds on an
earlier report from the same researchers published in the Journal of
Agricultural and Food Chemistry. On that occasion, they reported that
extracts from the same mushroom
could prevent browning of tuna and beef meat when the mushroom extract was
used as an additive.
New data
The researchers, led
by Huynh Bao, formulated four preparations of the
minced tuna meat, containing 0, 1, 3, or 5 millilitres of mushroom extract
per 100 grams of meat. A dose-dependent response was observed, with the tuna
meat’s shelf-life under ice storage being increased by 2, 4, and 6 days,
respectively, compared to the meat without the extract.
Furthermore, five
millilitres of the mushroom extract was found to be more effective than
addition of a vitamin C salt at a level of 500 ppm
or vitamin E at the same levels.
Beneficial effects on
the colour of the meat were also identified, and linked to the level of lipid
oxidation and the formation of metmyoglobin in the
fish meat.
“F. velutipes,
a traditional edible mushroom, has been used as a culinary vegetable without
any known toxic effects,” wrote the researchers.
“This study clearly
showed that the hydrophilic extract prepared from F. velutipes
is a promising source of natural antioxidants for food and food stuffs,”
they added.
Commenting on the
formulation quantities, the researchers did add that at a dose of five
millilitres per 100 grams of meat, this would scale up to 50 millilitres,
prepared from 500 grams of mushroom, would be needed
for one kilogram of meat.
“This amount of the
extract seems not small for further practical application in the food
industry,” they stated. “We have already found similar suppressing effects of
a
hydrophilic extract prepared from
the mushroom cultured media which has been mainly discarded or merely used as
fertilizer of low-cost performance so far.
“The value-added
utilization of the waste cultured media of F. velutipes
for the preparation of functional extract would be more valuable than the use
of edible fruiting body in terms of not only economic aspects but also
environment-friendly resolution of the industrial waste treatment,” wrote
Bao and co-workers.
Source: Journal of
Food Science
Published online ahead of print, Early View,
doi:10.1111/j.1750-3841.2009.01069.x
“Antioxidative Activities of Mushroom (Flammulina velutipes) Extract
Added to Bigeye Tuna Meat: Dose-Dependent Efficacy
and Comparison with Other Biological Antioxidants”
Authors: H.N.D. Bao, H. Ushio, T. Ohshima
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