Fatty acids, their proportions, ratios, and relations in the selected muscles of the thigh and roast beef

Abstract

The study aimed to examine, compare, and statistically evaluate the quality of the beef thigh and roast beef muscle in terms of the profile of fatty acids in relation to human health. Musculus semimembranosus and m. quadriceps femoris of the thigh and m. longissimus dorsi of the roast beef were used for analysis to evaluate the fatty acid profile. Chemical analysis of the thigh and roast beef muscle samples was performed using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The measured data were statistically processed according to descriptive characteristics, analysis of variance, and differences were tested using Scheffe´s test at a = 0.05. The SAS program package, version 8.2, was used to evaluate the results statistically. A statistically significant difference (p ≤0.05) was recorded in the dry matter proportion between m. quadriceps femoris and m. longissimus dorsi. A statistically significant difference was found in the intramuscular fat proportion, polyunsaturated fatty acid proportion, the ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids, the ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids to monounsaturated fatty acids, as well as between m. semimembranosus and m. longissimus dorsi and between m. quadriceps femoris and m. longissimus dorsi. Strong, statistically significant (p ≤0.01, p ≤0.001) correlations were found mainly between intramuscular fat and polyunsaturated fatty acids, between intramuscular fat and the ratio of the polyunsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids, between intramuscular fat and the ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids to monounsaturated fatty acids. In conclusion, it was stated that the muscles of the thigh and roast beef of the young cattle are characterized by statistically significant differences in the proportion of fatty acids. The ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids meets the recommended values concerning maintaining the health of the food consumer. Still, the ratio of the n-6 to n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids poses a risk concerning cardiovascular diseases.