Strategies to Enhance Quality of Meat Products

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Meat".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 December 2026 | Viewed by 602

Editors


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Guest Editor
Institute of Human Nutrition Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, PL-02 776 Warsaw, Poland
Interests: sensory, technological, and physicochemical qualities of various food groups; traditional, conventional, and supplemented food quality; waste management to develop new food products; zero waste

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Guest Editor
Institute of Human Nutrition Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, SGGW, Nowoursynowska 159 C str., 02-776 Warsaw, Poland
Interests: design and evaluation of quality characteristics of functional and convenience foods; evaluation of bioactive compounds in foods of plant origin; assessing the potential use of waste products in food technology
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over the past few years, new trends in meat production have been observed, including the use of new animal husbandry methods such as modifying feed composition, eliminating the use of additives in meat during processing, extending the shelf life of processed products, and modifying the composition of meat products to enhance their nutritional value. Furthermore, livestock production—especially ruminant production—has been identified as a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, soil degradation, and water consumption. All of these factors pose a substantial challenge for the meat industry: How can we produce high-quality meat products while minimising negative environmental impacts and meeting consumer expectations? In this context, producing high-quality meat is not just a matter of improving texture, taste, or appearance, but rather involves aligning production practices with broader goals such as environmental protection, human health, and ethical responsibility. Continuous innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration are essential to achieving these goals. Potential topics include the following:

  1. Bioactive food compounds with strong antioxidant properties that extend shelf life;
  2. Microorganisms that improve the quality of meat products;
  3. The use of plant-based ingredients in the development of meat products;
  4. Feed optimization and additives that improve meat quality.

Prof. Dr. Danuta Jaworska
Dr. Anna Sadowska
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • bioactive compounds
  • microorganism
  • plant-based ingredients
  • quality
  • meat
  • meat products

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

33 pages, 6654 KB  
Article
Quality Assessment of Commercial Dry-Aged Beef Produced in Poland
by Marta Chmiel, Lech Adamczak, Marcin Bryła, Agata Żak-Kułakowicz, Elżbieta Hać-Szymańczuk, Tomasz Florowski, Danuta Jaworska, Wiesław Przybylski, Ewelina Zielińska, Krzysztof Mrozik, Dominik Popowski, Marek Roszko and Edyta Juszczuk-Kubiak
Foods 2026, 15(13), 2345; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods15132345 - 2 Jul 2026
Abstract
The aim of the study was to evaluate the physicochemical, microbiological, and biochemical quality of commercially available dry-aged beef produced in Poland, with particular emphasis on differences between the crust and the interior of steaks. Fourteen samples (11 rib-eye and 3 sirloin) from [...] Read more.
The aim of the study was to evaluate the physicochemical, microbiological, and biochemical quality of commercially available dry-aged beef produced in Poland, with particular emphasis on differences between the crust and the interior of steaks. Fourteen samples (11 rib-eye and 3 sirloin) from different producers were analysed. The colour parameters, pH, water activity, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, water-holding capacity, basic chemical composition, texture, microbial counts, free amino acids, biogenic amines profiles, and consumer sensory quality were determined. Microbiological analyses covered total plate count, psychrotrophic bacteria, lactic acid bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas spp., Brochothrix thermosphacta, yeasts and Moulds, as well as the presence of Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes. Fungal species isolated from selected crust samples were identified using ITS rDNA sequencing. Significant variability among products was observed in colour (L*: 31.1–45.0), pH (5.3–6.7), and water activity (0.92–0.99). Compared with the interior, the crust exhibited higher lipid oxidation (TBARS up to 2.31 mg MDA/kg), higher microbial loads, and greater accumulation of biogenic amines, including tyramine, cadaverine, and putrescine. Rib-eye 6, Rib-eye 7, Rib-eye 8, Rib-eye 10, and Rib-eye 11 showed the highest sensory acceptance. On the crust of selected highly rated steaks filamentous fungi such as Mucor flavus and Thamnidium elegans were identified, which suggests environmental colonisation and potential technological relevance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strategies to Enhance Quality of Meat Products)
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