Preventing lipid oxidation in foods and improving their shelf life

The projects in which we have worked or are working in this line of research are:

• • Optimizing the quality and stability of potato chips and fried snack foods
  • Optimization of the oxidative stability of foods enriched in iron
  • -Stability of cured meat products low in nitrates and nitrites
  • – Preventing oxidation of polyunsaturated meats
  • – Nuts oxidative stability

Knowing the mechanisms and factors that cause lipid oxidation in foods is essential to combat this phenomenon. The way to improve food oxidative stability is not unique, so the most appropriate strategy needs to be chosen for each case. The strategies to control oxidation range from the use of antioxidants with different mechanism of action to the use of methods that prevent physical contact between the substrate and the prooxidants (eg, packaging, encapsulation…).

Moreover, nowadays, the use of new ingredients (eg organic and functional foods) has resulted in the emergence of new foods in which the optimization of oxidative stability is very complex (ie, foods enriched with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids or with new sources of heme iron; or organic dry-cured meat products with low doses of nitrates / nitrites).