Abstract: Oxidation is one of the most important factors limiting the shelf life of many food products. The objective of this study was to investigate the inhibitory effect of vine tea (Ampelopsis grossedentata) extract (VTE) on lipid and protein oxidation in vegetarian meatballs during refrigerated storage. The physicochemical properties, peroxide value (POV), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) value, and carbonyl and sulfydryl contents of vegetarian meatballs added with VTE at 0.1% and 0.3% were compared with those of the blank and positive (0.01% butylated hydroxy toluene (BHT)) controls. The results showed that VTE could effectively maintain the moisture content, lightness (L*) and elasticity of vegetarian meatballs compared with the blank control group (P < 0.05). In addition, VTE significantly inhibited the increase of POV and TBARS values (P < 0.05) and suppressed the formation of carbonyl compounds in a dose-dependent manner (P < 0.05), and the inhibitory effect was higher than that of BHT, suggesting that VTE could significantly inhibit lipid and protein oxidation of vegetarian meatballs during refrigerated storage. These results provide a theoretical basis for the application of VTE as a natural antioxidant in meat-like products.

Key words: vine tea (Ampelopsis grossedentata) extract, vegetarian meatballs, lipid oxidation, protein oxidation