Application of biopreservatives in meat preservation: a review

Summary As a highly perishable food, raw meat, if not preserved, will spoil due to the altered metabolism, microbial activity and external factors during storage. Biopreservatives, as a new type of preservatives, are characterised by nontoxicity, extensive source and good application prospects in the raw meat. This review discusses the factors responsible for the spoilage of raw meat, recaps the spoilage bacteria in the raw meat and summarises the major antibacterial mechanism of various biopreservatives. Moreover, application of various biopreservatives in the preservation of raw meat is emphatically reviewed. In addition, some existing challenges for application of biopreservatives and their prospective development are also discussed. The present work provides a theoretical reference for application of various biopreservatives in different types of raw meat for shelf life extension.