Cholesterol oxide, cholesterol, total lipid and fatty acid contents in processed meat products during storage

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Abstract

The effects of storage time on the formation of cholesterol oxides and on alterations in the fatty acid composition of processed meat products manufactured by Brazilian industries were investigated in this study. Cholesterol oxides and cholesterol were determined by HPLC using photodiode array and refractive index detectors. Samples of jerked beef, Italian-type salami, chicken mortadella and Chester mortadella were analysed at 30 day intervals starting at zero time, for 90 days for the mortadella and 120 days for the jerked beef and salami. The mortadellas were stored under refrigeration at 6 °C and the jerked beef and salami at room temperature, but protected from the light. No cholesterol oxides were formed during the storage time in any of the samples. The cholesterol content, the fatty acid composition and total lipid contents showed no significant differences during storage with the exception of the total lipid content of the jerked beef, which varied from 3.5 at zero time to 2.4 g/100 g after 120 days storage.

Introduction

Lipids can undergo alterations during the storage of food with consequent losses in nutritional value. Lipid oxidation is one of the main reactions, which can occur during the storage of food in conditions such as heat, presence of light, metals, natural sensitisers and oxygen, affecting the fatty acid composition and cholesterol, with the formation of compounds potentially harmful to human health, such as cholesterol oxides.

Cholesterol oxides are present in our diet, being identified in cholesterol-containing foods such as meat and meat products, eggs and egg containing products and milk and milk products (Finocchiaro & Richardson, 1983; Bössinguer, Luf, & Brandl, 1993; Rodriguez-Estrada, Penazzi, Caboni, Bertacco, & Lercker, 1997). High cooking and processing temperatures, storage conditions and the type of packaging used can influence the formation of cholesterol oxides (Paniangvait, King, Jones, & German, 1995). Thus the use of packaging materials capable of avoiding the entrance of air and light, especially ultraviolet light, and the use of adequate food storage temperatures, can delay the formation of cholesterol oxides (Savage, Dutta, & Rodriguez-Estrada, 2002).

Saturated fatty acids, trans fatty acids, fat, cholesterol and cholesterol oxides in foods, are related to the development of cardiovascular diseases, which are responsible for the greatest number of natural deaths in Brazil and in many other countries. Trans fatty acids are of more concern than saturated fatty acids, since, in addition to increasing the level of low-density lipoproteins (LDL), they decrease the level of high-density lipoproteins (HDL) (Lambertson, 1992).

Few integrated studies can be found in the literature on cholesterol, cholesterol oxides, total lipids and the fatty acid composition of processed meat products and virtually none verifying the effect of storage on these products. Thus the objective of this study was to determine the effect of storage time on the fatty acid composition and cholesterol oxide formation in processed meat products commercialized in Brazil.

Section snippets

Sample preparation

Four processed meat products were analysed, one being beef (jerked beef), one pork (Italian-type salami), one chicken (mortadella) and one Chester (mortadella). These products were acquired from supermarkets in Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil 3 days after the date of manufacture.

Three batches of each product were analysed, with different expiry dates. Each batch consisted of 12 units for the mortadellas and 15 units for the jerked beef and salami, 3 units being analysed at each period, that is,

The effect of storage time on the formation of cholesterol oxides

Table 1 shows the cholesterol content of the processed meat products analysed at the various storage times. It can be seen that in most cases there were significant differences in cholesterol contents between different batches of the same sample at the same storage time. The storage time did not alter the cholesterol contents of the samples, there being no significant differences between the different storage times throughout the entire storage period for the same sample, varying from 40±4 to

Conclusions

The cholesterol content, fatty acid composition and total lipids did not change during storage. There was no formation of cholesterol oxides in the processed meat products analysed during the storage period. The presence of sodium erythorbate, spices and natural condiments in the meat products analysed must have avoided the formation of radicals derived from unsaturated fatty acids, and consequently cholesterol oxides were not formed.

The food industry has been encouraged to intensify efforts to

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) and the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq) for their financial assistance.

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