## 4 Conclusions  
Growing consumer demand for all-natural products, referred to as clean labels, poses new challenges to the food industry, including the dosing of natural ingredients. Regarding deli meats, there is particular interest in adding natural antioxidants, a valuable strategy to stabilize healthy meat products. Turmeric stands out as a promising natural option among the alternatives to replace synthesis antioxidants. The present study investigated the effects of turmeric rhizome at 1% and 3% on the quality of pork meatloaf. Adding turmeric rhizome to meatloaf lowered the product's oxidation rate, which influenced the overall quality of meatloaf and guaranteed its safety. As for the addition level, there were several reasons for choosing the 1% turmeric as superior: (a) T1 showed the lowest content of the MDA compound, which was also more stable over time; (b) regarding color parameters, T1 scored between the control and T3, suggesting it to be more suitable to an average consumer; (c) hardness and chewiness scored higher in T1 than in T3 after all; and (d) T3 scored the lowest in meat flavor and desirability, whereas T1 scored higher in those categories, impacting its better overall quality. Thus, it is believed that adding 1% turmeric to pork meatloaf seems most advantageous in improving product quality and meeting consumer preferences.  
Conceptualization, A.D., M.K.-T. and M.A.O.; methodology, A.D. and M.K.-T.; formal analysis, A.D. and M.K.-T.; investigation, A.D. and M.A.O.; resources, M.K.-T., M.A.O. and M.S.; data curation, A.D. and M.K.-T.; writing--original draft preparation, A.D. and M.K.-T.; writing--review & editing, M.A.O. and M.S.; visualization, A.D.; supervision, M.K-T., M.A.O. and M.S.; funding acquisition, A.D. and M.S. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Samples**} & **Counts of Aerobic Mesophilic** & **Counts of Sulfite-Reducing** & **Presence of Coliforms** & **Presence of** \\  & **Bacteria (log CFU/g)** & _Clostridium_ (log CFU/g)** & **(10 g)** & _Staphylococcus_ **(10 g)** \\ \hline C & 3.65 \(\pm\) 0.25 & \(<\)1 & absent & absent \\ T1 & 2.88 \(\pm\) 0.70 & \(<\)1 & absent & absent \\ T3 & \(<\)1 & \(<\)1 & absent & absent \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 3: Microbiological analysis of meatloaf with turmeric addition on the 21 st day of refrigerated storage.  
**Funding:** Project financially supported by the Minister of Education and Science under the program entitled \"Regional Initiative of Excellence\" for the years 2019-2023, Project No. 010/RID/2018/19, amount of funding 12.000.000 PLN. The publication was written as a result of the authors' internship at the University of Porto, co-financed by the European Union under the European Social Fund (Operational Program Knowledge Education Development), carried out in the project Development Program at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn (POWR.03.05.00-00-Z310/17). This work was also supported by Base Funding [LA/P/0045/2020 (ALICE), UIDB/00511/2020, and UIDP/00511/2020 (LEPABE)], funded by national funds through [FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC)].  
**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.  
**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.  
**Data Availability Statement:** The data presented in this study are available in the article.  
**Acknowledgments:** Graphical abstract created with BioRender.com.  
**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.