The effect of cooking method on the physico-chemical characteristics and fatty acid composition in lamb longissimus dorsi muscle

Abstract

The effect of microwaving and roasting on physico-chemical characteristics and fatty acid composition in lamb longissimus dorsi muscle was investigated. The meat samples from 24 ram lambs of meat and wool purpose of Polish lowland sheep was analyzed. Lamb meat cooked in the microwave resulted in a higher cooking loss (P<0.05) compared to roasting. Compared to raw meat microwaving and roasting caused a significant increase in intramuscular fat, protein and collagen content. The samples cooked in microwave and roasted were brighter (P<0.05) (higher L* values) in comparison to raw meat. Cooking did not change the contents of SFA and MUFA of meat only the sum of PUFA and PUFA/SFA ratio decreased (P<0.05) for microwave treatment but did not change n-6/n-3 index. The applied cooking methods did not affect significant changes in the content of C18:2 c9, t11 (CLA) isomer.