New data on the total lipid, cholesterol and fatty acid composition of raw and grilled beef longissimus dorsi.

Simultaneous analyses of total lipids, cholesterol and fatty acids were carried out on raw and grilled beef longissimus dorsi trimmed of external fat. Cholesterol was determined by high performance liquid chromatography and the fatty acids by gas chromatography. Mean total lipid (g/100 g) ranged from 2.1 to 2.6 for raw beef and 3.5 to 4.0 for grilled beef steaks. Cholesterol levels (mg/100 g) ranged from 40 to 43 for raw beef and 67 to 70 for grilled beef steaks. The main intramuscular fatty acids of the raw and grilled meat were 14:0, 16:0, 16:1n7, 18:0, 18:1n9, 18:1n7 and 18:2n6. Grilled lean beef steaks had significantly higher contents of the principal fatty acids and most of the minor fatty acids. The higher values for the three components in the grilled meat were due to loss of moisture during grilling. There was no significant difference between the apparent and true retentions values, both indicating no significant loss or degradation of total lipids, cholesterol and fatty acids during grilling.