Evaluation of the antioxidant interaction between butylated hydroxytoluene and quercetin and their utility for beef patties preservation

The present study aimed to find a mixture of BHT and quercetin with an antioxidant synergism that would enable both compounds to be used at low concentrations and, subsequently, evaluate the preservative action of the combination selected on ground beef patties stored at 4 ºC. Our results showed that quercetin possessed a higher antioxidant activity than BHT, and of the five combinations tested, a 1:5 BHT-quercetin combination presented a synergistic antioxidant activity. For the refrigerated beef patties, the 1:5 combination (5.2 and 26.0 mg/kg of BHT and quercetin, respectively) produced a beneficial action on the redness, yellowness, antioxidant capacity, metmyoglobin content, and thiobarbituric acid reactive substance value, which was similar to that produced by 100 or 36 mg/kg of BHT or quercetin (P >0.05, except the redness induced by quercetin). These benefits were compared with the data obtained from a preservative-free patty control sample (P <0.001 to <0.05). Our study shows, for the first time, that the use of a 1:5 BHT-quercetin combination was an effective, simple, and available method to preserve refrigerated beef patties, which can substitute the individual addition of high concentrations of these compounds by the meat industry.