Antioxidants: their effects on broiler oxidative stress and its meat oxidative stability

Oxidative rancidity represents one of the major causes of deterioration in food for human consumption. Besides producing unpleasant odours, it is responsible for losses in flavour, texture, consistency, appearance and nutritional value. In a similar way, in living animals, oxidative stress constitutes an important mechanism that leads to biological damage, and is regarded as one of the causes of several pathologies that affect poultry growth. Therefore a better understanding of lipid and protein oxidation processes will allow the use of antioxidants to handle and control them. This is fundamental in order to guarantee the quality and safety of meat for human consumption, and in turn the prevention and/or delay of several oxidation processes would allow its management for an optimal quality and shelf life conservation.