Oxidation is one of the major causes of quality deterioration in meat.
Meat becomes susceptible to oxidative deterioration due to high concentrations of unsaturated lipids,
heme pigments, metal catalysts and a range of oxidizing agents in the muscle tissue.
Oxidative deterioration in any type of meat manifests in form of discoloration,
development of off flavour, formation of toxic compounds, poor shelf life, nutrient and drip losses, respectively
Under normal physiologic conditions,
the molecular oxygen undergoes a series of reactions that leads to the generation of free radicals.
A small portion (about 2–5%) of the oxygen consumed during the metabolic reaction is converted to free radicals in the form of reactive oxygen species (ROS).
These free radicals, particularly, the reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS),
play key regulatory roles in several homeostatic processes by interacting with
proteins, fatty acids and nucleic acids. They act as intermediate agents in essential oxidation–reduction reactions