Fatty acid profiles and lipid oxidation in beef steer muscles from different anatomical locations

Beef muscles at four different anatomical locations (longissimus dorsi, LD; psoas major, PM; semimembranosus, SM; semitendinosus, ST) were excised 24 h post-mortem from each of 12 steer carcasses and analyzed for total lipids, fatty acid proofiles and lipid oxidation catalysts. Also, the accumulation of thiobarbituric acid (TBA)-reactive substances in ground muscles stored at 4°C was determined. Total lipids and fatty acid composition of total lipid extracts were similar among the muscles from different locations. The microsomal enzymic lipid peroxidation activity was higher for the ST than for other muscles whereas total heme pigment was lower for the ST than for others. The nonheme iron was higher for the PM and SM than for the LD and ST. The accumulation of TBA-reactive substances in stored, raw ground muscle was highest for the PM and lowest for the LD. TBA values of ground muscle samples were positively correlated with heme pigment content and microsomal enzymic lipid peroxidation activity while not correlated with nonheme iron content. It also was positively correlated with the percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids.