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Abstract
Antioxidant system loss after slaughtering, reactive species production, cell disruption,
contact with oxygen and light, heme and nonheme iron, and irradiation starts up mainly
by 2 related oxidative processes: lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation. Products
generated in these processes are responsible for meat quality loss, and some of them
are suspected to be toxic to humans. This review article is focused on reactive species
implicated in oxidative processes in meat, on lipid peroxidation mechanisms, heme
protein, and nonheme protein oxidation, and on some toxic oxidation and digestion
products. Nonenzymatic fatty acid peroxidation is exemplified by an arachidonic acyl
group, and the initiation of chain reaction can be described by 3 pathways: singlet
oxygen, hydroxyl radical from the Fenton reaction, and perferrylmyoglobin. Enzymatic
oxidation of fatty acids is exemplified using linoleic acid, and the main characteristics
of lipoxygenase are also presented. Heme protein oxidation is described in an interrelation
with lipid peroxidation and the significance for food quality is shown. For protein
oxidation, 3 different mechanism types are described: oxidation of amino acid residues,
oxidation of protein backbone, and reactions of proteins with carbonyl compounds from
lipid peroxidation. The effects of oxidative damage on protein properties and bioavailability
are also shown. At the end of each oxidative process, the postprandial toxicity induced
by oxidation products and the dietary degradation products are presented. Also discussed
are reports by some researchers who suggest that dietary lipid and protein oxidation
products and heme iron from red meat are in part cytotoxic and/or genotoxic.