Abstract: The quality of meat and meat products may deteriorate during processing and storage, and this may include tenderness reduction, discoloration and off-odors or off-flavors, which are resulted from the oxidation of myoglobin and lipid, as well as myofibrils closely related to the meats quality. This paper mainly discussed the relationship of the three factors above and the factors causing oxidation in order to provide some scientific bases for improving meat products.

Key words: protein oxidation, lipid oxidation, oxidation mechanisms, influencing factors