Incorporation of hazelnut skin green extract in pork burgers delays lipid oxidation during cooking and in vitro digestion

BACKGROUNDLipid oxidation occurring during meat cooking and especially digestion has been recently linked with an increased risk of the onset of some chronic diseases. Incorporation of natural antioxidants directly in burger formulations is a novel and captivating approach to enhancing meat quality and repurposing food waste generated by the industry. This research aimed to assess the effect of including a hazelnut skin green extract in pork burgers on lipid oxidation during cooking and during in vitro gastro-intestinal digestion of burgers.RESULTSHazelnut skin green extract was characterized by a high level of phenolic compounds (especially flavan-3-ols) that were still present in raw and cooked burgers after hazelnut skin addition. The presence of these compounds reduced the level of lipid hydroperoxides and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) both after cooking and in vitro digestion. A significant decrease of 48.6% and 43.3% in lipid hydroperoxides was observed after gastric and intestinal digestion of pork burgers, respectively. Moreover, the inclusion of hazelnut skin green extract decreased by 72.7% the level of TBARS after cooking pork burgers. During in vitro digestion, hazelnut skin phenolic compounds were easily released from pork burgers making them potentially available for absorption.CONCLUSIONThe present study demonstrates that the inclusion of by-products such as hazelnut skin into pork burgers can help to minimize food waste and disposal costs and improve meat quality and human health by delaying lipid oxidation during cooking and digestion. (c) 2025 The Author(s). Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.