Rosemary extract - a natural meat preservation

As the human life quality improves, consumers’ demand on the meat processing system and consumption patterns are constantly increasing. Meat food safety and hygiene, quality and preservation issues also around the safety of chemical preservatives gradually in-depth. Seeking natural food preservatives, to meet a variety of functional health care products and natural green food is the utmost challenge these days. the development of broad-spectrum, efficient, safe and low-cost and good antibacterial performance of natural preservatives has important practical significance. Because of its high fat content and rich nutrition, meat products are prone to oxidation and microbial contamination in the process or storage, which not only causes the reduction of meat nutrition and taste, but also causes foodborne diseases. In recent years, scholars from domestic and abroad have done a lot of research on the application of rosemary extract in meat preservation. Relevant studies have proved that the addition of rosemary extract can effectively inhibit the production of sulphide barbiturate reactants (TBARS), hexaldehyde and other lipid oxidation products in the storage process of meat and meat products, effectively inhibit protein oxidation and better maintain the taste, with good color protection effect as well.

At present, the antibacterial mechanism of rosemary is that Rosemarinic acid affects cell metabolism by changing the permeability of bacterial cell membranes, causing the leakage of reduced sugars and proteins, thus inhibite the activity of DNA polymerases and inhibite DNA replication to achieve bactericidal effects; In addition, Rosemarinic acid inhibits the activity of a connective tissue's sticky polysaccharide hyaluronic acidase significantly, which can block the spread of invading microorganisms and toxic substances in the epidermis after invasion to achieve antibacterial effect.

Carnosol and Ursolic acid inhibit the growth of common bacteria and yeasts in food, the effectiveness is much greater than BHA and BHT, the order of activity is: Carnosol>BHA >BHT> Ursolic acid. Carnosol is the most effective for Staphylococcus aureus, anti-corrosion effect is obvious. Rosemary extracts or preservatives made up of their essential oils are good at inhibiting the growth of yeast or pathogenic bacteria that are parasitic on the epidermis, especially bottle-shaped yeasts. Rosemarinic acid has significant antibacterial effects on E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, etc., with MIC of 300 and 400 g/ml, respectively. Rosemarinic acid is antibacterial to E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus, and the activity of Staphylococcus aureus is greater than that of E. coli. Adding the right amount of rosemary extract to an unbaked or roasted sample can double or more than double its shelf life. In simulated air conditions with rosemary treatment of the steak in the treatment, found that the use of rosemary and vitamin C two antioxidants mixed together, can greatly reduce the reproduction of microorganisms, extend the shelf life of about half a month, while the formation of high iron myoglobin and the speed of lipid oxygenation is also reduced.