The Effect of Direct Addition of Conjugated Linoleic Acid on the Formation of Heterocyclic Aromatic Amines in Beef Chops

The effect of direct addition of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) (0.05, 0.1, 0.25 and 0.5%) to beef chops on the formation of heterocyclic aromatic amines (HCAs) was investigated. Chops were cooked at three different temperatures (150, 200, 250C). CLA addition had no significant effect (P > 0.05) on water content, pH, thiobarbituric acid reactive substance, L*, a* and b* values and cooking loss of the samples, while cooking temperatures had a significant effect (P < 0.01) on these parameters except for pH value. While 4,8-DiMeIQx and MeAαC could not be detected, varying amounts of IQx (up to 0.53 ng/g), IQ (up to 0.18 ng/g), MeIQx (up to 0.09 ng/g), MeIQ (up to 0.56 ng/g), 7,8-DiMeIQx (up to 0.19 ng/g), PhIP (up to 2.61 ng/g) and AαC (up to 0.58 ng/g) were detected. Total HCA content ranged between 0.10 and 4.49 ng/g. Up to 0.1% CLA reduced the total HCA amount at all cooking temperatures. Practical Applications Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a bioactive compound that is found naturally in foods from ruminant. There is limited information about the direct addition of CLA to meat in the literature. In addition, to the best of our knowledge, there are no reports on the effect of CLA on some quality properties of beef chop and the formation of heterocyclic aromatic amines. Therefore, in the present study, we aim to explore the effects of CLA usage on these parameters.