Table 3 Current approaches in reducing PAHs formation in meat and meat products

Guinea fowl meat

Effect of gamma irradiation (GI) (irradiated at 0, 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5 kGy) on meat smoked for 17 h at 67 ± 3 °C using neem tree wood

✔ GI significantly (p ≤ 0.05) reduced the concentrations of total PAHs, and PAH4 index in meat

✔ Reduction was dose-dependent with increasing GI dose resulted in decreasing PAHs concentrations

✔ The BaP of samples reduced by 88.5%, 99.38% and 100% with increasing irradiation dose for 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5 kGy, respectively, compared to control

[95]

Duck meat

Effect of marinated extracts of green tea (GT); bamboo leaves (BL); grape seed (GS) and rosemary (RE) @ 5, 15, 25 g/kg on duck skin and meat roasted in oven for 45–60 min at 202–203 °C, with the center temperature at 224 °C

✔ GT @ 25 g/kg exhibited the best inhibitory effects of 75.8% and 79.7%, on BaP and PAH4, respectively, in roasted duck skin

✔ BL @ 25 g/kg could effectively reduce PAH4 content in duck meat compared to other extracts

[110]

Dry sausages Hercegovaˇckakobasica (pork meat—75% and pork fat 25%)

Effect of traditional smoking of sausages (with collagen or natural casings) using hard wood (beech, hornbeam, and oak) and its sawdust @ 2–3 h for 6 days and thereafter on alternate days up to 30 days at 3.5–11.2 °C, or industrial smoking at 25 °C for 4 h a day (8–30 min) for 3 days on heating plate using beech and oak sawdust

✔ Samples with collagen casing and smoked in industrial chamber had the lowest PAH16 content (12 µg/kg) compared to sausages in natural casings smoked in the traditional manner (24.46 µg/kg)

✔ Smoking manner (industrial vs traditional) along with duration and combustion temperature played vital role in PAH4 formation

[45]

Pork meat

Effect of inclusion of natural plant extracts such as bay leaf, black pepper, turmeric, jalapeno pepper and tamarind paste in marinades and charcoal grilling (12 min) of pork between 280 and 300 °C

✔ Jalapeno pepper marinade had statistically significant reducing effect (95% reduction) on Σ12PAH levels (4.76 ± 0.08 µg/kg) compared to control sample (98.48 ± 0.81 µg/kg)

[111]

Traditional Portuguese dry-cured sausage (DCS) Paio

Effect of burning oak (Quercus ilex L.) wood on smoking of DCS (20 h in 3 days, 60 h in 8.5 days), or until reaching 38–40% weight loss

✔ Smoking of sausage for 20 h in 3 days was effective with no PAH and comparable to control samples

✔ BaP and PAH4 were detected in products subjected to longer smoking periods

[15]

Charcoal-grilled goat satay with sliced fat

Effect of marinating raw goat with shallots (Allium cepa var. Ascalonicum) juices @ 10%, 20%, and 30% for 60 min at 4 °C using wood charcoal for 6 min with a temperature of 531.06 ± 30.55 °C and 0.5–1 cm distance from flame

✔ BaP and BaA formation was not detected in goat satay marinated with 10% and 20% shallots juices compared to controls (0.39 ± 0.01 mg/kg)

[112]

Loin pork steaks

Effect of marinating meat (1:1) with pilsner beer (PB), nonalcoholic pilsner beer (POB), and black beer (BB) for 4 h at 5 °C and charcoal grilling at 200−230 °C for 10 min

✔ BB marinade was the most effective in reducing PAH8 (53%) followed by POB (25%) and PB (13%) compared with unmarinated sample (20.57 ng/g)

✔ BB marinade was the most efficient in reducing BaP formation (39.48%) compared with unmarinated sample (2.71 ± 0.82 ng/g)

[21]

Smoked pork sausage

Evaluation of cellulose aerogels from (NaOH/urea, LiBr, and LiOH/urea) solutions under different smoking (temperature—50, 80, 110, and 140 °C ) and time (2, 4, and 6 h) conditions of pork sausages

✔ The LiBr-functionalized absorbent (at 140 °C for 6 h) offered the highest adsorptive efficiency for PAH4 without causing significant differences (p < 0.05) in the physicochemical, microbiological, and sensory parameters compared to the control group (without adsorbent)

✔ Apart from being eco-friendly, cellulosic aerogels could be used to remove PAHs and effectively maintain the desired quality of smoked meat and meat products

[113]

Meat (beef loin, pork belly, and chicken thigh)

Effect of white charcoal (from oak), black from broadleaf trees, or extruded charcoal (from coconut shell, coal, starch, barium nitrate, and

sodium nitrate) on grilling of meat at 200 °C

✔ Meats grilled using extruded charcoal showed the highest levels of PAHs (p < 0.0001) compared to others

✔ Higher levels of 4 PAHs were found in pork belly than beef loin and chicken thigh meat, due to its high fat content (p < 0.0001)

✔ Combination of white charcoal and low-fat (beef loin and chicken thigh) meat had reduced PAHs formation

[18]

Charcoal-grilled pork loin

Effect of spraying vinegar—white wine (WV), red wine (RV), apple cider (AV), elderberry (EV), AV with raspberry juice @30–33 mg/gm on meat and grilling at 200 °C for 10 min

✔ EV exhibited the highest PAH4 inhibition (5.60 ng/g, 82% less than control) in meat, followed by WV (79%), RV and AV (66%), and AV with raspberry juice (55%) compared to control samples (31.47 ng/g)

✔ Spraying meat with vinegars before grilling limited PAHs formation in grilled meat compared with other mitigation strategies involving phenolic rich products

[84]

Chinese traditional smoked bacon

Marinade in solution containing pine needle (Cedrus deodara) extract-PNE @ 0.025%, 0.05%, 0.1% and 0.2%, w/w on skinless ham butt kept for 4 days at 4 °C and smoked using applewood at 80 ± 5 °C for 2 h

✔ Inhibitory ability of PNE on the generation of PAHs in smoked bacon was concentration dependent

✔ PNE was effective in nullifying PAH4 of smoked bacon compared with control sample (9.19 μg/Kg)

✔ PNE could be used to improve the quality and safety of smoked bacon

[114]

Sirloin pork

Effect of grilling pork using low-temperature refined traditional wood charcoal (LTC), high-temperature refined charcoal (HTC), charcoal briquettes (CB) at 350–400 °C for 20 min

✔ Grilling pork with HTC had significantly lower BaP (88%), PAH4 (81%) and PAH16 (75%) contamination levels than LTC and CB

✔ HTC-grilled meat was safer with better palatability quality in terms of juiciness and tenderness

[115]

Sirloin pork

Effect of deep-fat frying Sirloin pork in lard or palm oil at 180 °C for 24 times or 8 h (20 min of each batch, including 5 min frying time and 15 min waiting time)

✔ BaP levels in meat fried with palm oil were much lower (0.08–0.23 μg/kg) than with lard (0.53–1.86 μg/kg)

✔ Pork fried in palm oil had lower PAH4 (1.46–2.72 μg/kg) and PAH16 levels (10.43–34.13 μg/kg) compared to PAH4 (< 3.09–10.17 μg/kg) and PAH16 levels (< 24.52–57.46 μg/kg) with lard fried pork

[115]

Charcoal barbecued pork patties

Effect of perilla leaves extract-PLE @ 0.2% or 0.4% on medium-cooked (barbecued for 9 min until internal temperature reached 71 °C) and well-cooked (barbecued for 16 min until internal temperature reached 80 °C) pork patties

✔ PLE @ 0.4% exhibited stronger suppressive effect (p < 0.05) on formation of PAH4 and PAH8 and BaP in well-cooked compared to 0.2%, control and medium-cooked patties

[116]

Charcoal-grilled chicken wings

Effect of marination using phenolic marinades (gallic, protocatechuic, and ferulic acids) @ 0.1, 1, 3, and 5 mg/L of phenolic aqueous solutions for 4 h at 48 °C and grilling at 270, 240, and 210 °C for 8 min

✔ Concentration of BaP significantly decreased (p < 0.05) as grilling temperature decreased from 3.28, 2.57, and 1.38 ng/g at 270, 240, and 210 °C, respectively

✔ Lowest total PAHs contents were obtained with use of protocatechuic acid @ 3 mg/L marinade

✔ Grilling marinated meat at lower temperatures had greater inhibitory effects on PAHs formation

[117]

Cold smoked pork sausages

Effect of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) suspension viz. Pediococcus acidilactici KTU05-7, Pediococcus pentosaceus KTU05-9 and Lactobacillus sakei KTU05-6 strains on pork sausages before (at 18 °C for 60 min) and after (16 °C for 130 min) smoking

✔ LAB treatment before and after smoking of sausages significantly (p < 0.05) decreased both BaP and chrysene

✔ PAHs formation in outer layers of sausages were more in comparison with inner layers

✔ Sausages treated with LAB before smoking were more acceptable than treated after smoking

✔ Samples treated with P. pentosaceus had the highest acceptability

[105]

Duck meat

Effect of smoking (24 h vs 48 h) period and wood types viz. beech (Fagus sylvatica), plum (Prunus domestica) and cherry (Prunus cerasus)

✔ Duck meat had highest concentrations of PAHs, irrespective of smoking period or wood type

✔ PAHs concentration was higher while using beech wood followed by cherry and plum woods

✔ 48 h of smoking contributed to higher and fastest accumulation of PAHs in duck meat

[118]

Pork sausages

Influence of smoking at 55 °C, 65 °C, 75 °C, 85 °C, and 95 °C for 3 h or for 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, and 9 h at 75 °C using sawdust of beech wood, apple, plum, birch, oak, walnut, alder on pork sausages

✔ Sausages smoked for 3 h at 55 °C, had lower BaP and PAH4 content

✔ Higher temperatures (55−95 °C) and longer smoking periods (2−9 h) showed increasing trend in PAHs concentrations

✔ Apple and walnut wood sawdust were better as yielded lower PAH concentrations compared to others

[119]

Grilled Sirloin pork

Effect of marinade (dietary antioxidants, diallyl disulfide-DADS and quercetin @100 mg/kg or 500 mg/kg) treatment of Sirloin pork at 4° ± 2 °C for 1 h followed by charcoal grilling @ 2 min/side

✔ DADS @ 500 mg/kg meat in marinade significantly decreased BaP (100%) and heavy PAHs (84%) in charcoal-grilled pork

✔ Quercetin @ 500 mg/kg meat in marinade could reduce BaP (23%) and heavy PAHs (55%) compared to control samples

[120]

Roasted duck wings

Effect of coriander root extract (CRE) and coriander leaf extract (CLE) @ 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000 mg/L on marination of duck wings at 4 °C for 4 h and roasted for 8 min using bamboo charcoal

✔ CRE-600 exhibited greater inhibitory effect (87.4%) followed by CRE-800 (79.7%) and CRE-400 (79.0%) on PAH8 formation in roasted duck wings in comparison with control group (22.84 ng/g)

✔ CRE could be considered as a kind of natural source to mitigate PAHs in heat-processed meat products

[121]

Chicken breasts, thighs and wings

Effect of thawing (microwave at 310 W for 3 min, refrigerator at 4 °C for 24 h or immersion in distilled water at 20 °C for 1 h followed by deep-fat frying at 180 °C for 10 or 35 min at minutes) or hot air frying (at 180 °C for 35 min)

✔ Deep-fat-fried chicken had higher PAH4 (2.60–3.17 µg/kg) levels as compared with air-fried samples (1.96–2.71 µg/kg)

✔ Deep-fat-fried samples had significantly higher (p < 0.05) total PAHs levels than the air-fried chicken meats

✔ Thawing method had no significant effect (p > 0.05) on PAH formation in air-fried chicken meats

✔ Thawing in a refrigerator significantly lowered (p < 0.05) total PAHs levels in deep-fat-fried chicken wings than by other means

[71]

Beef burgers

Effect of replacement of tallow in burgers with vegetable oil (VO) and milk fat (MF) followed by flipping (every 3 min) during charcoal grilling at 280 and 300 °C

✔ Partial replacement of beef tallow with vegetable oils and milk fat in burgers reduced the formation of PAHs

✔ Replacing beef tallow with vegetable oils better approach in designing meat products with controlled PAHs content

[122]

Raw ground pork

Effect of marinating solution using cinnamon or green tea powder @ 0.5% over 2, 4, 8, 12 or 24 h

✔ Marinating raw pork either with cinnamon or green tea solution for 2–12 h was more effective in inhibiting PAHs formation as compared untreated samples

✔ Extending time length of marination (24 h) increased the PAHs content in pork due to elevation of PAHs precursors, such as benzaldehyde, 2-cyclohexene-1-one and trans, trans-2,4-decadienal

[123]

Ground pork meat fried pork balls

Effect of ginger or rosemary @ 0.25% and 0.75% on pork meat balls fried using soybean oil at 180 °C for 3 min

✔ Ginger had no significant effect on the PAH4 content in fried pork balls

✔ Rosemary @ 0.25% and 0.75% reduced the PAHs content in fried pork balls by 30% and 35% compared to control (9.34 ng/g). This could be due to the high temperature resistance of its active ingredients

[124]

Charcoal-grilled beef steak

Effect of in-package cold plasma (ICP) treatment (at 85 kV for 180 s) of charcoal-grilled (180–220 °C for 12 min) beef steak pretreated with vegetable oil (colza, soyabean, sunflower seed) or solid animal oil (pork fat, butter) @ 50 g/kg sample

✔ ICP technique to pre-treat raw meat before grilling could significantly reduce PAHs production in the grilling process

✔ Sunflower seed oil had an inhibitory effect on PAHs formation; the groups with ICP pretreatment showed a significant decrease in PAHs content (p < 0.05)

[125]

Charcoal-grilled chicken drumsticks

Effect of charcoal grilling chicken drumsticks (without skin, with skin, and skin removal after processing) at about 400 °C for 10, 20 or 40 min

✔ Presence of skin and long-term grilling (40 min) had a greater impact on PAHs levels (35.71 ng/g) compared to short grilling time for 10 min (14.28 ng/g)

✔ Skin of chicken drumsticks should be removed to reduce the PAHs content

✔Longer the grilling time, the higher the content of PAHs was noted

[126]

Grilled beef satay

Effect of honey (bee honey-Apis mellifera and “kelulut” honey (Trigona sp.)-spices marination and gas-grilling beef satay samples at temperatures (150 °C , 250 °C, and 350 °C)

✔ PAH15 level in beef satay increased significantly (p < 0.05) with increasing grilling temperatures, with the highest concentrations detected at 350 °C

✔ Inverse quantitative profiles of PAHs formation observed in marinated gas-grilled beef satay

[127]

Barbecued pork sausages

Effect of marination with distilled (white vinegar—WV) or fermented vinegar (aromatic—AV; vinegar—MV; sun—SV) @ 2%, w/w for 6 h and grilling pork sausages at 280 °C (core 75 °C)

✔ Vinegars significantly (p < 0.05) inhibited the formation of BaP (26.8–82.3%) in barbecued pork sausages

✔ Fermented vinegars were effective in enhancing the sensory (tenderness, flavor, juiciness and overall acceptability) attributes of sausages

✔ Among vinegars, SV (82.3%) inhibited BaP more than AV (65.0%) and MV (79.2%) compared to WV (26.8%) and control group

[128]

Pork jerky

Effect of flavoring materials (20% sugar and 10% soy sauce; 10% sugar and 10% soy sauce; 20% sugar and 5% soy sauce; 10% sugar and 5% soy sauce; standard formula and 0.5% curcuma powder; standard formula and 0.5% cinnamon powder) and roasting temperatures (180 °C and 220 °C) for a time of 10 min

✔ 20% sugar and 10% soy sauce were more effective in inhibiting formation of PAHs (52.639 ng/g) compared to control (72.609 ng/g) in pork jerky

✔ Pork jerky roasted at 220 °C generated a higher PAHs content than 180 °C

✔ Sugar had a more pronouncing effect in inhibiting PAHs formation than soy sauce

[129]

Beef patties

Effect of nutmeg and ginger essential oils (0.02% and 0.04%) and their nanoemulsions on beef patties grilled at internal temperature of 75 °C for 5 min and stored for 45 and 90 days at − 18 °C

✔ Increase in the storage time significantly increased PAHs levels of the beef patties

✔ Nanoemulsion-based nutmeg oil @0.04% had a great impact in preventing carcinogenic compound formation in grilled patties

[130]

Charcoal-grilled pork sausages

Effect of garlic powder @ 0.05%, 0.1%, or 0.15% (w/w), or garlic essential oil-GEO @ 0.002%, 0.004%, or 0.006% (w/w) to meat marinated at 4 °C for 6 h and grilling the sausage at surface and core temperature of 280 °C and 75 °C, respectively, for 20 min

✔ Garlic was more efficient in reducing BaP formation (37.2–62.3%) than GEO (29.1–57.1%) compared to control (1. 99 μg/kg)

✔ BaP content decreased significantly (p < 0.001) with increasing concentrations of garlic in sausages

✔ BaP content decreased significantly with the increasing concentration of GEO (p < 0.001) in the charcoal-grilled pork sausages

[131]

Beef meat balls

Effect of animal fat types (10% beef intramuscular fat; 10% sheep tail fat; 5% beef intramuscular fat + 5% sheep tail fat)on meatball formulations charcoal barbecued at 200 °C for 8 min kept at + 4 °C for 2 h

✔ Animal fat significantly affected amount of BaP and PAH4, and the levels of BaP and PAH4 were ranged between 2.33–4.30 and 8.41–15.48 ng/g, respectively

✔ Meatballs formulated with 10% sheep tail fat had significantly (p < 0.05) higher levels of PAH4 (15.48 ng/g)

✔ Use of a mixture of intermuscular fat and sheep tail fat helped in reducing PAHs formation (about 46%) compared to meatballs using only sheep tail fat

[132]

Pork sausages

Effect of γ-irradiation at doses of 0, 1, 4, and 8 kGy, on pork sausages baked at 220 °C for 20 min

✔ The concentration of PAH4 in irradiated sausage was notably reduced by 16.89% (1 kGy), 36.79% (4 kGy), and 51.68% (8 kGy) compared with unirradiated sausages (46.83 μg/kg)

✔ γ-ray irradiation could be used as a powerful food preservation method to reduce chemical hazards, thereby improving food safety

[133]

Grilled pork sausage

Effect of grape seed extract-GSE (10%) on pork sausage roasted using an electric oven for 20 min at 240 °C (core temperature about 90 °C) and stored for 2, 4, 6, and 8 days

✔ PAH12 and PAH4 in GSE treated sausages were significantly lower (p < 0.05) up to 4 days, but notably increased on 8th day compared to control group

✔ Sausages should be processed and consumed early, when GSE is used for preservation

[134]

Charcoal-grilled pork belly

Effect of marination with Gochujang (fermented red-pepper paste) and storing (10 days at 9 °C) of pork belly under vacuum followed by charcoal grilling at internal temperatures of 71 °C for 3.5 min or 81 °C for 5 min

✔ PAHs formation was higher at 81 °C than at 71 °C in charcoal-grilled pork belly (p < 0.05)

✔ Storage time increased the inhibitory effects of Gochujang marinade with maximum reduction in total 16 PAHs (63.06%) observed with moderate cooking (71 °C) on day 10 (p < 0.05)

✔ PAH4 reduced to 39.86 and 121.26 μg/kg in 71 °C and 81 °C treated samples, respectively, compared with control (p < 0.05)

[54]

Barbequed chicken wings

Effect of marinating chicken wings with curcumin @ 0.01, 0.05, 0.25 or 0.3 mg/kg at 4 °C for 4 h and grilling at 220 °C

✔ Curcumin @ 0.3 g/kg was effective in inhibiting PAHs by 65% compared to untreated sample (3.18 ng/g)

✔ Addition of curcumin before grilling is a feasible strategy to limit PAHs levels

[135]

Chicken satay

Effect of chicken meat marinated for 10 min with lemon @ 0%, 5%, 10% and 15% on PAHs

✔ Chicken satay marinated with 15% lemon marinates had reduced content of PAH4  compared to other treatments and control

[136]

Charcoal grilled pork

Effect of apple polyphenol (AP) @ 0.02%, 0.05%, 0.10% or 0.20% on PAH formation in meat marinated at 4 °C for 4 h, and charcoal grilled at 200 °C

✔ AP @ 0.20% completely inhibited BaP formation, whereas the rate of PAH4, PAH8 and PAH16 inhibition were 52.68%, 53.10% and 37.36%, respectively

✔ Addition of 0.20% AP also retained the functional properties of the grilled pork

[137]

Grilled beef patties

Beef patties fortified@0.5% and 1% with raw, or black garlic (aged at different combinations of temperature and duration) and cooked on a hot plate at 200 °C for 7 min on the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) content and toxic potency

✔ Beef patties fortified with black garlic@1% (aged at 70 °C for 45 days) had reduced PAH8 content of up to 94.12% compared to raw garlic

✔ Patties fortified with black garlic had a lower incremental lifetime cancer risk than raw garlic fortified patties

[138]

Roasted pork loin

Pork loin roasted with dried fruits (prunes, apricots or cranberries) at 180 °C for 60 min

✔ Pork loin roasted with cranberries had strongest inhibitory effect on total PAHs content (58%) compared to apricots (35%) and prunes (48%)

✔ Cranberries had the strongest inhibitory effect with reduction in BaP content by 100%

✔ Use of dried fruits in thermally processed meat is an effective way in reducing the PAHs content and the risk of cancer

[139]