ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) exert positive effects on human health. The long chain n-3 PUFA of pork can be increased by adding fish oil to the diet. Due to the cost and availability of fish oil an alternative source must be found. METHODS: This study evaluated the effect of five dietary oils on meat quality, fatty acid composition and lipid stability. The five diets contained 1% palm oil (Control), 1% soya oil, 1% linseed oil, 1% fish oil, and 1% Echium oil, respectively. The trial consisted of 60 gilts, randomly allocated to five groups. RESULTS: All color parameters, extractable fat content, fat free dry matter, and moisture content of the m. longissimus muscle were unaffected by dietary treatment. Consumers and a trained sensory panel could not detect a difference between the control samples and the Echium oil sample during sensory analysis. Samples containing higher levels of PUFA (soya, linseed, fish, and Echium oil) had higher levels of primary and secondary lipid oxidation products after refrigerated and frozen storage. However, these values were still well below the threshold value where off flavors can be detected. The Echium oil treatment had significantly higher levels of long chain PUFA than the linseed oil treatment, but it was still significantly lower than that of the fish oil treatment. CONCLUSION: Echium oil supplementation did not increase the levels of n-3 to the same extent as fish oil did. The result did however suggest that Echium oil can be used in pig diets to improve muscle long chain n-3 fatty acid content without any adverse effects on meat quality when compared to linseed, soya, and palm oil.
ABSTRACT
Although many efforts have been made to improve and control the eating quality of meat, there is still high variability in palatability, which may ultimately result in customer dissatisfaction. Beef meat is especially intricate to study since consumers have specific preferences for degrees of doneness. The degrees of doneness in beef is known to affect its physicochemical properties and have a subsequent effect on palatability. Nevertheless, an in-depth investigation into the exact changes that occur with increasing internal end-point temperatures of meat is yet to be explored. With researchers implementing various cooking methods and cooking conditions (i.e., sample preparation and internal end-point temperatures), the results of studies are often impossible to compare. This review provides an overview of the various benefits and drawbacks of the cooking methods commonly used at home, in commercial enterprises, and research on meat. Furthermore, the physicochemical changes in meat with increasing degrees of doneness are discussed in detail with considerations of the subsequent changes in the sensory properties of meat.
