This study was performed to determine the effects of vacuum packaging (VP) and modified-atmosphere packaging (MAP) (CO₂/N₂ = 3:7) on the physicochemical properties and sensory attributes in chicken breast meat during storage at 2ºC±0.5ºC for 5, 10 and 15 days. Results showed that storage time influenced the physicochemical properties, except sensory attributes, shear force and shear energy of chicken meat. The extended storage time was causing an increase in the pH value, drip loss and in values of color parameters (L, a* b*) in chicken meat. Moreover, the packaging method affected values of drip loss, cooking loss and shear force. Fresh meat (0 days of storage) was characterized by the highest overall quality assessed with the semi-consumer scaling method. Storage time and packaging method were found to exert significant effects on the physicochemical parameters determined instrumentally and on sensory attributes of meat evaluated with the semi-consumer scaling method.

Cold plasma is a new technology of promising potential to use as a part of technological extraction lines constructed to implement green chemistry solutions or simply to reduce resources in solvent-based extraction lines. The present study was undertaken to verify the effect of nitrogen cold plasma pre-treatment conducted for 8 min (20 kHz) on the content of antioxidants, antioxidant activity, the profile of volatile compounds, microbial count, pH and color measured in herb extracts (12 herbs: Echinacea purpurea; Salvia officinalis; Urtica dioica; Polygonum aviculare; Vaccinium myrtillus; Taraxacum officinale; Hypericum perforatum; Achillea millefolium; Sanguisorba officinalis; Leonurus cardiaca; Ballota nigra; Andrographis paniculata) obtained with its usage. The surface morphology of extracted herbs was examined as well. Herbs used for extraction were ground and suspended in water before cold plasma treatment, which is a novel approach not studied before. Most plasma-treated extracts were characterized by a higher content of polyphenols (11 out of 12). Content of flavonoids and anthocyanins increased in four extracts and in the case of anthocyanins was significantly higher in comparison to control (up to 77%). The antioxidant activity measured at least by one method (ABTS, DPPH, FRAP) was also higher in nine plasma-treated solutions. Moreover, plasma decreased total aerobic bacteria, affected the color and increased pH of the extracts. The surface structure of the plant material after the extraction process was significantly damaged, which probably led to a higher extraction yield of bioactive compounds and in consequence to the higher antioxidant activity of extracts obtained with the cold plasma treatment.

Meat is a rich source of different volatile compounds. The final flavor of meat products depends on the raw material and processing parameters. Changes that occur in meat include pyrolysis of peptides and amino acids, degradation of sugar and ribonucleotides, Maillard’s and Strecker’s reactions, lipid oxidation, degradation of thiamine and fats, as well as microbial metabolism. A review of the volatile compounds’ formation was carried out and divided into non-thermal and thermal processes. Modern and advanced solutions such as ultrasounds, pulsed electric field, cold plasma, ozone use, etc., were described. The article also concerns the important issue of determining Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) markers generated during heat treatment.

Marinating is one of the most common methods of pre-processing meat. Appropriate selection of marinade ingredients can influence the physicochemical properties of the meat and can reduce the level of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the final product. The effects of the inclusion of natural plant extracts such as bay leaf (BL), black pepper (BP), turmeric (TU), jalapeno pepper (JP) and tamarind paste (TA) in marinades on the physicochemical properties of grilled pork neck were studied. The addition of spice extracts to marinades increased the proportion of colour components L* and b*. The use of TU, TA, JP, MX and C marinades lowered the hardness and pH of the meat. The highest phenolic compound levels were observed in the case of the mixture of all extracts (MX) and JP marinades, and the highest total antioxidant capacity was exhibited by the BL and MX marinades. The highest PAH content was recorded in the CON marinade (Σ12PAH 98.48 ± 0.81 µg/kg) and the lowest in the JP marinade (4.76 ± 0.08 µg/kg), which had the strongest, statistically significant reducing effect (95% reduction) on PAH levels. Analysis of correlation coefficients showed a relationship between the total antioxidant capacity of the marinades and the PAH content in grilled pork.