Rosemary Extract
According to the provisions of GB1886.172 National Standard for Food Safety Food Additives Rosemary Extract: This standard applies to rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) stems and leaves as raw materials, solvent extraction or supercritical carbon dioxide extraction, refining and other processes produced by food additives rosemary extract. The solvents are water, methanol, ethanol, acetone and/or hexane.

Rosemary extract can be divided into oil-soluble and water-soluble two kinds, the active ingredients of the former are mainly sage acid and sage phenol, and the latter is mainly rosemarinic acid.

In addition, rosemary extract has the property of high temperature resistance: at 240 degrees Celsius, it is still very stable, while the stability of general plant extracts is easily affected by temperature.

Rosmarinic acid (RosA) is a water-soluble natural phenolic acid compound isolated from rosemary, which is widely distributed, mainly found in a variety of plants in Labiatae, Comfrey, Cucurbitaceae, Tiliaceae, and Umbelliferae, with the highest content in Labiatae and Comfrey.

Rosemarinic acid is a natural antioxidant with stronger antioxidant activity than vitamin E, caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, folic acid, etc. It helps prevent cell damage caused by free radicals.

Since rosemary extract is insensitive to light and heat as well as acids, it is recognized as a natural antioxidant by the industry because of its antioxidant effects in fats and oils, meat products, puffed foods and even condiments.

Applications of Rosemary Extract in Foods

Application in animal and vegetable fats and oils
Rosemary extract inhibits rancidity and increases the stability of fats and oils. Free radicals are generated when air combines with fats and oils, resulting in oxidative rancidity. However, due to the strong antioxidant function of the components of rosemary, such as sage phenol, rosemary phenol, and rosemary bisaldehyde, they are able to provide hydrogen, neutralize these free radicals, and thus prevent oxidation reactions.

Experimental studies by Wang Wen and Wang Ying showed that rosemary antioxidant has strong antioxidant capacity in soybean oil, peanut oil, palm oil, rapeseed oil and lard, especially in soybean oil and lard, and its antioxidant capacity is 2-4 times higher than that of synthetic antioxidant BHA.

Application in meat products
Meat and poultry products are prone to oxidative decay through pre-cooking, grinding, slicing and other processes. Studies have shown that when meat products are handled and processed, a large number of muscle tissue cells will rupture, thus releasing bound iron and enzymes that combine to form a catalyst that causes oxidative reactions within the muscle.

When heating meat products, special decomposition products will result in a strong off-flavor. Adding rosemary antioxidants to processed meat and poultry products stops the oxidation reaction and protects the flavor.

Application in medicine and health care products
Rosemary extract shows great potential application prospects in medicine. According to traditional Chinese medicine, rosemary is warm and pungent in nature, with aroma and stomachic, calming and tranquilizing effects, commonly used in the treatment of various headaches, neurasthenia and so on. Rosemary extract has anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and immunomodulatory effects, as early as 1990 rosemary has been used as an anti-inflammatory, antipyretic and analgesic drugs into the market.

Due to the unique health care value of rosemary extract, rosemary extract has become a hotspot for development in the field of health food. In the European and American markets, rosemary extract has been developed into a variety of nutritional tablets and capsules for antioxidant, improving gastrointestinal health, improving mood, maintaining healthy blood pressure, protecting the brain from free radicals, resisting environmental stimuli, etc., and as an antioxidant in fish-oil-based health products.