The use of rosemary (powder, extract and oleoresins) as an antioxidant in meat and meat products has been increasingly studied within the last years.
However, results concerned thus far its antioxidant effect on lipid oxidation, but not on metmyoglobin formation.
Therefore, our results strongly suggest for the first time a direct antioxidant effect on metmyoglobin formation and, as a consequence, in colour protection.