## 1 Introduction  
The growing demand for meat has led industries to increasingly invest in processed products. Nowadays, industrialization has become the primary solution for managing raw materials, as it not only extends the shelf life of food but also enhances its value [1]. Numerous are processed meat derivatives, including hams, sausages, and many others [1]. Among these, meat sausages and, in particular, mortadella, which is a cooked, cured, emulsion-type sausage [2], stand out as popular and affordable fast-food options [3]. Specifically, mortadella is an industrialized meat product made from an emulsion of butchered animal meat, such as pork, beef, poultry, lamb, or combinations of these [2], with or without bacon and added ingredients, embedded in natural or artificial casings in different forms, and subjected to the appropriate heat treatment [4]. It is sold either as a cylindrical roll or as vacuum-packed slices [5, 6]. Because of its chemical composition (highwater activity (a\({}_{w}\)) and notable fat content (around 30%)) [4,7], this product is particularly susceptible to oxidative deterioration and microbial contamination, which negatively influence its stability [8]. In fact, these chemical and microbiological processes can lead to the development of unpleasant flavors and odors, as well as a reduction in the product's nutritional quality, ultimately decreasing consumer acceptance [9]. Thus, to minimize and prevent these changes in the nutritional composition or organoleptic properties and to extend the shelf life of mortadella, synthetic chemical preservatives, such as antioxidants, antimicrobials, and curing salts (primarily nitrites and nitrite salts), are commonly used in its production process [10]. However, several studies [11; 12; 13; 14] on the safety of these types of additives in the food industry have raised concerns about potential toxicity risks associated with the consumption of such products, as they may contain or generate compounds harmful to human health [15]. A notable example is nitrites, widely used as chemical additives in processed means, particularly in mortadella, for their strong antimicrobial and antioxidant properties, which can generate human carcinogens under conditions that promote endogenous nitrosation [16]. For this reason, there is a growing demand for healthier meat products, including anti-sanal mortadella, made with natural additives, such as those extracted from plants and/or vegetables and their wastes [17]. In this regard, plant-based extract powders with significant biological activities, such as parsley (_Petroselinum lortense_) [18], oregano (_Origanum vulgare_) [19], paprika (_Capsicum annuum_) [20], and common lambsquarters (_Chenopodium album_), and vegetable byproducts, like those derived from grapes (_Vitis vinifera_), elementine mandarin oranges (_Citrus reticulata_), and fennel (_Feniculum vulgare_) [21; 22], have sparked considerable interest in the food industry, especially in the meat chain, because of their well-known powerful bioactive properties, including antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antifungal activities [17; 18; 19; 20; 21; 22]. Regarding mortadella, in the few scientific studies available in the literature on artisanal mortadellas, i.e., Bologna-type sausages in which chemical additives are replaced by alternative natural substances, some of these plant-derived extracts, primarily essential oils and occasionally powders, have already been used to partially or completely substitute chemical additives, showing promising results in terms of antimicrobial and antioxidant activities [18; 23; 24; 25].