COMPARISON OF 2‐THIOBARBITURIC ACID REACTIVE SUBSTANCES DETERMINATION METHODS IN VARIOUS TYPES OF FROZEN, FRESH MEAT

Triplicate batches of chicken breast (CB), chicken thigh (CT), fresh ground beef (GB), ground beef patties frozen 2 years (BP), veal (V), pork roast (PR), ground pork frozen 1 year (GP) and lamb (L) were homogenized and subjected to each of five 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substances determination methods (n = 3 TBARS determinations/sample/method/replicate). Distillation methods resulted in higher (p < 0.05) TBARS values than extraction methods for all types of samples. TBARS ranges were CB=0.21–0.55; CT=0.21–0.40; GB=0.26–0.89; BP=1.14–4.00; V=0.18–0.82; PR=0.67–2.09; GP=1.17–4.01; and L=0.58–2.18. Distillation methods in which antioxidant was added did not consistently produce lower TBARS than distillation without antioxidant. Distillation methods produced TBARS approximately 2 times those produced by extraction methods in less oxidized samples (CB, CT, GB, V); distillation methods produced TBARS 2.75 times those produced by extraction methods in more oxidized samples (BP, PR, GP). Recoveries were quite different (ranging from about 65% to 95%) for the various methods indicating the need to run both standard curves and recovery rather than using published conversion factors in TBARS calculations.