A decrease in the nutritional value and a reduction in the shelf life of meat and meat products occurs primarily due to lipid peroxidation and microbial contamination of the product during the cold chain. The intensive development of organic animal husbandry requires market operators to ban the use of synthetic preservatives in the food industry and strictly control their use at production facilities. However, although plant extracts look promising as an alternative to antibiotics or chemical preservatives, there is extraordinarily little available information about the effective dose that can be used without the risk of toxic effects in consumers, which determined the relevance of this study. The purpose of this study was to analyse the effectiveness of using plant extracts as natural antioxidants for the meat processing industry. To fulfil the purpose of this study, an analytical method was used. The main factors that reduce the quality and safety of food products during storage were analysed. The paper analyses the effectiveness of using natural, biologically safe antioxidants for the meat processing industry. It was found that the use of bioantioxidants allows minimising oxidative changes and microbial contamination, which can adversely affect the quality of meat and meatbased products. Based on the literature data, it was found that extracts of spicy plants (rosemary, green tea, sage, cloves, mustard, nutmeg, licorice root, ginger, garlic), berries (black currant, cranberry, strawberry, pomegranate, Maki and goji berries, grapes, barberry, plum) and their compositions are effective natural antioxidants that ensure long-term food storage. The intensive development of organic animal husbandry on the territory of Ukraine requires market operators to ban the use of synthetic preservatives in the food industry and strictly control their use at the production facilities of market operators
