Lipid oxidation in differently aged beef : use of static headspace gas chromatographic and 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substance methods (TBARS)

Abstract: This thesis assesses and compares lipid oxidation in beef samples from different ageing approaches by using static headspace gas chromatographic method and 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substances. Beef samples were compared between three different ageing methods: hang ageing (traditional dry ageing); vacuum bag ageing (wet ageing); and tublin bag ageing and two ageing durations, 10 days or 21 days. Gas chromatographic and spectrophotometric methods were utilized for quantifying volatile lipid oxidation products and TBARS, respectively. Results showed that beef from hang ageing had lower TBARS values and volatile lipid oxidation products than the other two ageing methods irrespective of ageing time. The longer ageing time yielded higher TBARS values and volatile compounds in all ageing methods. Among the volatile lipid oxidation aldehydes, hexanal was the most predominant one.