The research in this dissertation focused on determining antioxidant effects of various natural antioxidants in cooked meat systems. Milk mineral (MM), spices, and raisin paste were used in cooked meat systems to verify their potential antioxidant properties. The MM study determined the antioxidant activity of 1.5% MM added to uncured cooked beef meatballs, and possible additive effects of MM in combination with 20-ppm or 40-ppm sodium nitrate in cooked beef sausages . There was no additive inhibition of lipid oxidation in samples containing 20-ppm or 40-ppm sodium nitrite plus 1.5% MM. Cooked meat yield was not different between control meatballs and those containing MM. As expected, treatments containing nitrite had higher redness (a*) values than samples without nitrite. The MM at 1.5% was a very effective antioxidant as compared to controls. The Garam Masala (GM) study determined the antioxidant effects and sensory attributes of the individual spices in an Indian spice blend GM in cooked ground beef, and possible additive antioxidant effects between Type I and Type II antioxidants. All spices had antioxidant effects on cooked ground beef, compared to controls without spices, with cloves being the most effective. All spices at their lowest effective recommended level effectively lowered the perception of rancid odor and rancid flavor in cooked ground beef as compared to control samples. As expected, most spices also imparted distinctive flavors to the cooked ground beef. Type II antioxidants (iron binding phosphate compounds) were more effective than individual Type I antioxidants (spices and butylated hydroxytoluene; BHT) in cooked ground beef. There was a positive additive antioxidant effect seen with rosemary + MM and rosemary + sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) treatments as compared to individual rosemary treatment. There was no additive antioxidant effect observed for other combinations of spices with phosphate antioxidants. The raisin study was done to determine the antioxidant activity of raisin paste added to cooked ground beef, pork, and chicken. Thiobarbituric acid (TBA) values were measured using the distillation method, on the distillates, to avoid interference from sugar in the raisins. Beef, pork, and chicken flavor intensity, rancid flavor intensity, and raisin flavor intensity were evaluated by a trained sensory panel (n = 6). Addition of 2% raisin paste effectively inhibited rancid flavor development for 14 days after cooking in cooked ground beef, pork, and chicken. Sugar added at levels equivalent to that contributed by the raisins inhibited rancidity, probably due to antioxidant effects of Maillard browning products, suggesting that the antioxidant effect of raisins was due to their sugar content.

All-purpose wheat flour is a useful long-term storage commodity, but is subject to off-odor formation. Although flour stored in a low oxygen atmosphere should inhibit rancid odor formation, it elicits consumer complaints about odor. The purpose of this study was to examine off-odor development in all-purpose wheat flour during ambient and elevated storage by determining the effect of low oxygen atmosphere and enrichment-bleaching on quality as measured by, free fatty acids (FFA), flour descriptive sensory analysis, conjugated dienes, headspace volatiles, bread consumer sensory analysis, color, loaf volume, and vitamin analysis. Enriched, bleached (EB) and unenriched, unbleached (UU) flour was stored in a low and normal oxygen atmosphere in no. 10 cans at 22, 30, and 40°C for 24 weeks. Moisture remained constant throughout the study. Headspace oxygen was < 0.1% in flour stored in a low oxygen atmosphere and decreased in flour stored in a normal oxygen atmosphere. FFA increased with storage time and temperature. The "fresh flour" descriptive aroma of flour decreased during storage and decreased more rapidly in a low oxygen atmosphere. The "cardboard/stale" aroma increased in flour stored in a normal oxygen atmosphere. The "acid-metallic" aroma increased in flour stored in a low oxygen atmosphere and was determined to be the off-odor from consumer complaints. Conjugated dienes and volatiles generally increased more rapidly in flour stored in a normal oxygen atmosphere and in EB flour, suggesting that the acid-metallic odor did not result from lipid oxidation. Bread consumer sensory analysis identified EB flour stored in a normal oxygen atmosphere to have the lowest acceptance scores for aroma, overall acceptability, and flavor. The acid-metallic odor dissipated within 24 hours when the container was opened and was not detrimental to consumer acceptance of bread made from the flour. Oxygen absorbers prevented the darkening of flour but not the reddening or yellowing. A low oxygen atmosphere resulted in higher bread loaf volumes. Vitamin degradation is not a concern under normal storage conditions. Bleaching appears to increase flour oxidative rancidity more than enrichment. Although storage at a low oxygen atmosphere results in an off-odor present in newly opened cans, it gave higher quality flour and bread. A low oxygen atmosphere should continue to be used in flour stored long-term, and consumers should be made aware that the off-odor present in cans of flour dissipates after opening.