The concentration of overall protein thiols was quantified as a
measure of the oxidative stability of the protein fraction of the meat
emulsions (Fig. 2, lower panel). No significant differences were found
between days within the same treatment indicating that storage time
did not affect protein thiol loss in the meat emulsions, and emphasizes
the different oxidation mechanisms of lipid and proteins. Addition of
1500 ppm green tea extract was found to have a significant effect on
the protein thiol concentration, and levels were found to be on average
68% lower than in the control meat emulsion. Furthermore, at days 1
and 5 in meat emulsions added 500 ppm green tea extract, the protein
thiol concentrations were significantly lower compared to the control.
In contrast, meat emulsions added 100 ppm green tea extract did not
differ from the control meat emulsion on any day and appeared to
have no impact on overall thiol loss. A significant difference between
the control meat emulsion and meat emulsion added TG was observed
at day 5. However, this difference is more likely to be ascribed to the
slight increase in thiols for the control at day 5, than an actual loss of
thiols in the TGmeat emulsions. No significant difference was observed
for the TG meat emulsions at days 1 and 8 as compared to the control