Publish Date : 02.09.20

New natural coatings from tomatoes improve the preservation of meat – Opportunity for Tomato Processing Industry to tap a new market.

A team of CSIC researchers has achieved gelatin coatings that would delay the oxidation process of the product during storage. The stability of the compounds opens up avenues of research into their possible antioxidant effect after digestion. Researchers from the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology (IATA-CSIC), the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), and the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) have demonstrated the effectiveness of a gelatin coating enriched with hydrolysate of tomato proteins to improve the quality of meat.

Meat is a basic element in the diet of a large part of the population since it has a high nutritional and protein level. However, it is a perishable product whose first symptoms of deterioration are changes in colour, appearance, aroma, water exudation and, finally, microbial growth. The coatings, developed by researchers from the IATA-CSIC Meat and Meat Products Biochemistry, Technology and Innovation group, not only serve as a direct barrier to water or oxygen when applied to fresh meat but also contain natural antioxidant peptides obtained from tomato skin and seed extracts, which have proven effective against meat oxidation due to their antioxidant properties.

This extends their shelf life during cold storage and responds to consumer demand for natural food preservation. This by-product from the tomato industry as a source of bioactive peptides gives them added value at a low economic cost, contributing to sustainability in the industry. It is having a beneficial effect on digestion, researchers have been able to confirm the antioxidant capacity of this coating not only on the food product but it could also be beneficial after ingestion by the consumer. These edible biopolymers and natural additives obtained from by-products of food processing represent a new path that allows the transition to a sustainable bioeconomy in the food industry.