Evaluation of the Preservation and Digestion of Seal Meat Processed with Heating and Antioxidant Seal Meat Hydrolysates

Seal meat is of high nutritive value but is not highly exploited for human food due to ethical issues, undesirable flavors, and loss of nutrients during the processing/cooking step. In this work, commercially available processed seal meat was treated with its hydrolysates as preservatives with the aim of improving nutrient bioavailability. The contents of the nutrients were analyzed after digestion using a simulated dynamic digestion model, and the effects of different processing conditions, i.e., low-temperature processing and storage (25 degrees C) and high-temperature cooking (100 degrees C), of seal meat were investigated. Hydrolysates with antioxidant activity decreased the amounts of the less desirable Fe3+ ions in the seal meat digests. After treatment with hydrolysates at room temperature, a much higher total Fe content of 781.99 mg/kg was observed compared to other treatment conditions. The release of amino acids increased with temperature and was 520.54 mg/g for the hydrolysate-treated sample versus 413.12 mg/g for the control seal meat sample treated in buffer. Overall, this study provides useful data on the potential use of seal meat as a food product with high nutritive value and seal meat hydrolysates with antioxidant activity as preservatives to control oxidation in food.

Automated summary

Seal meat is a highly nutritious food source, but it is not widely consumed due to ethical concerns, undesirable flavors, and loss of nutrients during processing. This study explored the use of seal meat hydrolysates as preservatives to improve nutrient bioavailability. The results showed that hydrolysates with antioxidant activity significantly reduced the amounts of Fe3+ ions in the digests of seal meat. Treatment with hydrolysates at room temperature resulted in a higher total Fe content compared to other conditions. Furthermore, the release of amino acids increased with temperature. Overall, this study highlights the potential of seal meat as a high-nutrient food product and seal meat hydrolysates as preservatives to control oxidation in food.