Abstract
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•This is the first meta-analysis of smart films for tracking meat freshness.•The natural pigments had different sensitivities to spoilage indicators.•The sensitivity of the natural pigments depends on the spoilage conditions.•The overall TVB-N of the spoiled seafood, red meat, and chicken is estimated at 24.96 mg/100 g.•The prediction interval was ranged between 23.10 and 26.82 mg/100 g.
Major databases were searched from January 2012 to August 2021 and 54 eligible studies were included in the meta-analysis to estimate the overall mean of total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) in meat. The mean of TVB-N was 24.96 mg/100 g (95 % CI:23.10–26.82). The pooled estimate of naphthoquinone, curcumin, anthocyanins, alizarin and betalains were 25.98 mg/100 g (95 %CI:19.63–32.33), 30.03 mg/100 g (95 %CI: 24.15–35.91), 24.92 mg/100 g (95 %CI: 22.55–27.30), 23.37 mg/100 g (95 %CI:19.42–27.33) and 19.50 mg/100 g (95 %CI:17.87–21.12), respectively. Meanwhile, subgroups based on meat types showed that smart film was most used in aquatic products at 27.19 mg/100 g (95 %CI:24.97–29.42), followed by red meat at 19.69 mg/100 g (95 %CI:17.44–21.94). Furthermore, 4 °C was the most storage temperature used for testing the performance of smart films at 25.48 mg/100 g (95 %CI:23.05–27.90), followed by storage at 25 °C of 25.65 mg/100 g (95 %CI:22.17–29.13). Substantial heterogeneity was found across the eligible studies (I2 = 99 %, p = 0.00). The results of the trim-and-fill method demonstrated publication bias was well controlled.