Processed meats represent a large percentage of muscle foods consumed in the western world. Various processing steps affect the physicochemical properties of the meat, compromise its nutritional components, or produce some compounds that are of health concern. Hence, the impact of oxidation on human health and the aging process and the influence of diet on these harmful reactions are of growing interest. Past decades have seen more focus on lipid oxidation, microbial deterioration, and pathogenicity, as well as production of carcinogenic compounds during meat processing. The oxidation of protein, which is a major component in meat systems, has received less attention. Protein oxidation has been defined as a covalent modification of protein induced either directly by reactive species or indirectly by reaction with secondary by-products of oxidative stress. Not only are these modifications critical for technological and sensory properties of muscle foods, they may have implications on human health and safety when consumed. Cooking, for example, has been observed to increase free radical generation while it also decreases the antioxidant protection systems in meat, both of which contribute to protein oxidation. Many other meat processing techniques, as well as other emerging technologies, may significantly affect protein oxidation and protein overall quality. This paper explores the current understanding of meat processing techniques and their possible effects on the status of protein oxidation and nutritional value, as well as their possible implications on human health.

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In recent years, red beetroot has received a growing interest due to its abundant source of bioactive compounds, particularly betalains. Red beetroot betalains have great potential as a functional food ingredient employed in the food and medical industry due to their diverse health-promoting effects. Betalains from red beetroot are natural pigments, which mainly include either yellow-orange betaxanthins or red-violet betacyanins. However, betalains are quite sensitive toward heat, pH, light, and oxygen, which leads to the poor stability during processing and storage. Therefore, it is necessary to comprehend the impacts of the processing approaches on betalains. In this review, the effective extraction and processing methods of betalains from red beetroot were emphatically reviewed. Furthermore, a variety of recently reported bioactivities of beetroot betalains were also summarized. The present work can provide a comprehensive review on both conventional and innovative extraction techniques, processing methods, and the stability of betalains.