Meat and meat products are important sources for protein, fat,
essential amino acids, minerals, vitamins and other nutrients
(Biesalski, 2005). In recent years, much attention has been paid
to develop meat and meat products with physiological functions
to promote health conditions and prevent the risk of diseases.
Oxidation of lipid and auto-oxidation are one of the major
causes of quality deterioration and reduction of shelf life of meat
products. This may produce changes in meat quality parameters
such as color, flavor, odor, texture and even nutritional value
(Fernandez et al., 1997). Meat mincing, cooking and other processing
steps prior to refrigerated storage disrupt muscle cell
membranes facilitating the interaction of unsaturated lipids
with pro-oxidant substances such as non-haem iron, accelerating
lipid oxidation leading to rapid quality deterioration and
development of rancidity (Tichivangana and Morrissey, 1985).
The rate and extent of oxidative deterioration can be reduced
through various means such as curing, vacuum packaging, modified
atmosphere packaging and most importantly addition of
synthetic or natural antioxidants. Although synthetic antioxidants
such as butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and butylated