Retention of nutrients in processed cuts of Creole cattle

The aim of this research was to determine retention factors in Creole cattle (CC) meat and in the meat obtained from their cross-breeding with Zebu (ZC) after the cuts had been submitted to two common and traditional cooking methods: roasting and boiling. For that purpose, the proximate composition and the mineral content in four cuts of beef (buttock, flank, loin blade steak, and shoulder blade steak) were analyzed. Determinations of moisture, protein, fat, ash and mineral content were carried out using AOAC official methods and others. With regard to retention factors, high indexes of protein conservation were found, regardless of the cooking method used. Protein retention varies from 86% to 100% while lipid retention is highly variable between 25.58% and 64.7% in CC buttock and shoulder blade steak cuts, respectively. On the other hand, mineral retention depends on the selected cooking method.