Maqui (Aristotelia chilensis (Mol.) Stuntz): A Natural Antioxidant to Improve Quality of Meat Patties

Abstract

Aristotelia chilensis is an endemic shrub of the South Pacific with high concentrations of bioactive compounds in its leaves and, therefore, it is highly valued. The effect of Aristotelia chilensis leaf powders (maqui leaf powders; Ma) on the quality and shelf life of beef patties during 7 days of storage was investigated. Five beef patties treatments were prepared: (1) Control without antioxidants (CT); (2) Beef patties with synthetic antioxidants plus color (250 mg/kg) (PL); (3) Beef patties with 500 ppm of maqui leaf powders (Ma500); (4) Beef patties with 1000 ppm of maqui leaf powders (Ma1000); and (5) Beef patties with 2000 ppm of maqui leaf powders (Ma2000). The quality of the beef patties was evaluated on day 0 and day 7 of storage by physicochemical analysis (moisture, ash and lipid content, color, pH, fatty acid profile and lipid oxidation) and organoleptic analysis. The addition of maqui leaf powders did not produce changes in the proximate composition of the beef patties. The pH for all treatments showed a range of 5.50–5.75 and significant differences (p < 0.05) were observed at the beginning and end of storage. The pH of the control beef patties increased during storage while the pH of the beef patties with synthetic and natural antioxidants decreased. Redness (a*) was the color indicator that was mostly affected by the inclusion of 1000 ppm and 2000 ppm powders. High lipid oxidation was observed in control samples on the seventh day of storage due to the high percentage of fat used in the formulation and the absence of any antioxidant. However, the Ma500, Ma1000, and Ma2000 treatments presented the lowest lipid oxidation rates (42.05%, 40.29%, and 43.14%, respectively) in comparison with the synthetic antioxidant (52.23%). This lipid inhibition is related to the strong antioxidant activity (29.75 µg/mL IC50 DPPH) of the maqui leaf powder due to its high content of total polyphenols (148.76 mg GAE/g), mainly characterized by having great amounts of hydroxybenzoic acids (82.5 mg GAE/g), flavonoids (7.1 mg QE/g), and hydroxycinnamic acids (3.7 mg CAE/g). Although minimal variations were observed in some individual fatty acids, and despite the trend to decrease MUFA and increase SFA with the maqui leaf powder addition, these differences were minimal and, according to the nutritional indices results, without any influence on the nutritional quality of the beef patties. The organoleptic analysis showed that the addition of maqui leaf powders did not affect the general acceptability of the new formulations. This study reports for the first time the substitution of synthetic antioxidants with Aristotelia chilensis leaves extract. Based on the results, it can be concluded that this ingredient can be used as an alternative for the production of raw meat products with clean labels.

A Review of the Functional Characteristics and Applications of Aristotelia chilensis (Maqui Berry), in the Food Industry

“…In a study where researchers compared control patties without antioxidants, patties added with synthetic antioxidants, and patties added with Maqui leaf powders in concentrations of 500, 1000, and 2000 ppm, it was found that the pH of the control beef patties increased during storage, while the pH of beef patties with synthetic and natural antioxidants decreased; furthermore, decreased lipid oxidation was observed in patties added with Maqui (at all doses) in comparison with the synthetic antioxidant. With respect to organoleptic characteristics, redness (a*) was affected at doses of 1000 ppm and 2000 ppm of Maqui powder; despite this, the incorporation of this product did not affect the general acceptability of the patties, concluding that this natural additive can be used in the formulation of beef patties [ 56 , 57 ].…”

Natural antioxidants (rosemary and parsley) in microwaved ground meat patties: effects of in vitro digestion

“…Several compounds generated during the oxidative degradation of meat lipids have potential negative health effects 2 . Consequently, the industry and the scientific community have tried to minimize the accumulation of oxidation products during processing through different technologies and/or by the use of antioxidants, with particular interest in those of natural origin 3 …”

“…2 Consequently, the industry and the scientific community have tried to minimize the accumulation of oxidation products during processing through different technologies and/or by the use of antioxidants, with particular interest in those of natural origin. 3 Different types of herbs or their extracts, or even waste products obtained from vegetable sources have been used in meats and meat products trying to extend their shelf life, limiting or reducing the lipid and protein oxidation processes. [4][5][6][7] Among them, the use of aromatic herbs which have been traditionally used for improving the sensory properties of meat dishes are of great interest.…”

Potentials of beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.) peel extract for quality enhancement of refrigerated beef meat

“…Principal plant pigments comprised chlorophyll (green), anthocyanins (blue-red), carotenoids (yellow-orange), and betalains (red-purple-yellow) (Novais et al, 2022;Zhang et al, 2022). In this course, numerous studies investigated the potential of plant extracts, such as maqui (Aristotelia chilensis) (Velázquez et al, 2022), red pitaya (Bellucci et al, 2021), Bixa Orellana (Bolognesi and Garcia, 2018), red prickly pear pulp (Kharrat et al, 2018;Palmeri et al, 2018), and jabuticaba (Myrciaria cauliflora) (Baldin et al, 2018;Tayebeh et al, 2021), for meat and meat products. It must be noted that color is the principal sensory quality influencing a food product's initial perception and market success (Manzoor et al, 2021).…”