Abstract
The objective of the study was to characterize tissue-associated differences in the fatty acid composition of fat in skeletal muscles M. longissimus dorsi (loin), M. biceps femoris (hind quarter), and M. triceps brachii (shoulder), and internal organs (i.e., liver, heart, and kidney) from free-living red deer (Cervus elaphus) females (n = 11) hunted in Lithuania. Skeletal muscles were characterized by lower content of free fat compared with the offal. The highest percentage of saturated fatty acids was found in the liver fat, whereas the lowest percentage was in the heart. Red deer offal showed significantly lower and higher proportions of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids compared to meat, respectively. Higher proportions of oleic fatty acid in the shoulder and hind quarter compared to the loin were the only significant differences between skeletal muscles. The lowest and the highest n-6 polyunsaturated/n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-6/n-3PUFA) ratio were found in the liver and heart, respectively. More favorable lower atherogenic index and higher hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic ratio found in the offal showed their high nutritional value, however, higher peroxidizability index indicated higher susceptibility to lipid peroxidation compared to skeletal muscles.
Highlights
Mankind suffered a lack of meat and highly appreciated it throughout history, and even nowadays, meat is a very important source of energy and protein in food culture [1]
The highest (p < 0.001) fat content of red deer was in liver samples, whereas the lowest mean value within the offal was determined in the heart
Red deer offal showed significantly lower and higher proportions of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) compared to meat, respectively
Summary
Mankind suffered a lack of meat and highly appreciated it throughout history, and even nowadays, meat is a very important source of energy and protein in food culture [1]. Food wastes are associated with primary animal resources and by-products and with environmental aspects. In spite of the fact that the number of slaughtered animals has increased over time, the use of edible by-products for human consumption has declined [6,7]. Consumption patterns vary depending on factors such as culture, traditions, and need, other authors noted that the consumption of animal by-products has continued to grow [8]. The most valuable parts for food are muscles, internal organs recovered from slaughtered and hunted animals offer a range of foods which have good nutritive value and constitute part of the diet in different countries worldwide [9,10,11,12]. The usefulness of some types of internal organs depends on the animal species from which they are obtained [7,10]
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