ANTIOXIDANTS IN MUSCLE FOODS.

Nutritional Strategies to Improve Quality

Edited by Eric A Decker, Cameron Faustman, Clemente J Lopez-Bote

Published 2000. Hardback. 499 pages. Price: [pounds]75.50

(USA: John Wiley & Sons Inc)

The purpose of this book is to examine dietary approaches for improving the quality of muscle-based foods. "Antioxidants in Muscle Foods" has been organised into three sections, beginning with the scientific bases for oxidative reactions common to muscle foods, followed by dietary strategies used to influence the antioxidant composition of muscle and finally the scientific and economic implications of muscle foods with altered composition.

Advances in food and animal science have given rise to a variety of nutritional strat-egies for improving the quality of muscle food products, from fish to livestock. This book describes a new methodology in this field, which involves the use of dietary antioxidants to improve meat quality while avoiding exogenous food additives or packaging procedures. Photographs, illustrations, charts and tables accompany discussions on oxidative processes in muscle foods; dietary strategies for improving the oxidative stability of muscle foods; the beneficial impact of Vitamin E supplementation on meat quality; economic and safety implications of nutritionally modified meat; food industry applications involving meat, poultry and seafood; animal nutrition and muscle biochemistry; new areas where nutritional strategies can improve meat quality.

Chapter titles: Oxidation of Lipids in Muscle Foods: Fundamental and Applied Concerns; Mechanisms of Endogenous Skeletal Muscle Antioxidants: Chemical and Physical Aspects; Antioxidant Activity of Carotenoids in Muscle Foods; Protein Oxidation and Implications for Muscle Food Quality; Oxidative Processes and Myoglobin; Potential Mechanisms by Which Vitamin E Improves Oxidative Stability of Myoglobin; Potential for Altering Quality of Muscle and Milk From Ruminants; Monogastric Nutrition and Potential for Improving Muscle Quality; Improvement of Oxidative Stability of Beef and Lamb With Vitamin E; Vitamin E and the Oxidative Stability of Pork and Poultry; Dietary Delivery of Carotenoids; Dietary Delivery Versus Exogenous Addition of Antioxidants; Dietary Treatment and Quality Characteristics in Mediterranean Meat Products; Alteration of Cooked and Processed Meat Properties via Dietary Supplementation of Vitamin E; Economic Implications of Improved Colour Stability in Beef; Potential Interactions Between Antio xidants and Microbial Meat Quality; Utilising Diet to Incorporate Bioactive Compounds and Improve the Nutritional Quality of Muscle Foods; Followed by a Subject Index.