Abstract
BackgroundIntensive farming of livestock along with recent food scandals and consumer deception have increased awareness about risks for human nutrition. In parallel, the demand for meat obtained under more natural conditions from animals that can freely forage has largely increased. Interestingly, the consumption of game meat has not become more common despite its excellent quality and content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs).Context and purposeWe addressed the question if game meat fatty acid composition is modified through kitchen preparation. By analysing muscle fatty acid (FA) composition (polar and total lipids) of five European game species in a raw and a processed state, we aimed to quantify the proportion of PUFA that are oxidised and hydrogenated during processing. All game meat species originated from local hunters and free-living individuals. To mimic a realistic situation a professional chef prepared the meat samples with gentle use of heat in a standardised way.ResultsExpectedly, the overall content of polyunsaturated fatty acids declined during the cooking process but the decrease size was <5% and the nutritiously most important n-3/n-6 ratio was not affected by processing (F1,54 = 0.46; p = 0.5). Generally, our samples contained species-specific high PUFA and n-3 FA contents but we point out that differentiating between species is necessary.ConclusionGame meat thus provides a healthy meat source, as cooking does not substantially alter its favourable fatty acid composition. Further research is needed to elucidate species-specific differences and the role of habitat quality and locomotion for tissue composition.
Highlights
Intensive farming of livestock along with recent food scandals and consumer deception have increased awareness about risks for human nutrition
Expectedly, the overall content of polyunsaturated fatty acids declined during the cooking process but the decrease size was
By sampling six individuals per species we have attempted a comprehensive reflexion of the natural variability in game meat fatty acid composition. (2)—In the past, we have conducted several experiments on fatty acid composition within one species i.e., European hares (Lepus europaeus) where we studied three different muscles from 293 individuals with the differences in the content of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) and other FA classes being in the range of
Summary
Intensive farming of livestock along with recent food scandals and consumer deception have increased awareness about risks for human nutrition. Context and purpose: We addressed the question if game meat fatty acid composition is modified through kitchen preparation. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are essential dietary components, because humans cannot synthesize them de novo. Valencak et al BMC Res Notes (2015) 8:273 times, likely took up a n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio of around 1:1, based on a diet composed mainly of wild animal meat and plant matter [10]. This is a far cry from a modern Western diet, which ranges from an unfavourably high level of 10–20:1 [11]. By including more n-3 PUFA in our diets, we could actively reduce this ratio which would in turn, greatly improve our health
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