Effect of Cooking on the Fatty Acid Composition of Beef Intramuscular Lipid

Changes in fatty acid composition of neutral, polar and total lipid fractions of beef intramuscular lipid were assessed due to cooking. The longissimus muscle from 48 ribeye steaks was sectioned as: medial half for raw analysis (RAW) and lateral half for cooked analysis (COOK). Cooking reduced the percentages of oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids and increased the percentage of stearic acid. These changes were most evident in the polar lipid fraction, where the unsaturated fatty acids occurred in the highest percentages. Overall, cooking increased the stearic acid and total saturated fatty acid contents of the intramuscular lipid while reducing total PUFA content.