Preparation of model systems containing soybean oil and pink pepper (schinus terebinthifolius) and their effect on cholesterol oxidation during thermal preparation of chicken legsnatural antioxidants; pink pepper; thermo-oxidation; fried Chicken.
In recent decades, there is a growing concern among the population to acquire healthy eating habits, conditions that reflect directly on their lifestyle and their way of eating. Chicken meat is a product with high nutritional value and accessible to the population, due to its low cost, for its high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids, however, contains appreciable concentrations of cholesterol, compounds highly susceptible to lipid oxidation. The formation of cholesterol oxides and the degradation of polyunsaturated acids play a prominent role among the factors responsible for the loss of quality and nutritional characteristics of chicken, with thermal processing (thermal oxidation) being the main factor. Because of this, the search for new alternatives that contribute to the quality of these products becomes essential, starting with the use of natural sources rich in bioactive compounds, which have the ability to minimize the degradation of chicken via thermal oxidation. The pink pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi) is a species of important economic value, due to its application in the gastronomy, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical areas. The objective of this work will be to evaluate the protective effect of pink pepper from model systems containing soybean oil, added with 3 concentrations of the peppers (5, 10 and 15%). In parallel, the oils will remain in contact with the peppers for 3 periods: 10, 20 and 30 days, respectively. The added oils will be used for the thermal preparation of chicken thighs. With the results obtained, we hope to recommend conditions to avoid the formation of cholesterol oxidation products and to guarantee the safety in the ingestion of these foods.