Rapid and quantitative determination of hexanal in cooked muscle foods

Abstract

A simple and rapid method was developed to quantify hexanaJ in cooked muscle foods. The method involves extraction of the 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazones of carbonyls with hexane and their separation by reversed-phased high performance liquid chromatography. The method compared well with the classical thiobarbituric acid test. The method was successfully used to quantify hexana) in cooked beef and pork burgers during storage at 4 °C for up to 1 week as well as in cooked turkey burgers after diet supplementation with vitamin E. After 7 days' storage at 4 °C, the contents of hexanal increased from 0.71 to 22.50 μ.mol/kg in beef burgers, from 0.89 to 32.7S μmol / kg in pork burgers and from 1.31 to S2.16 μmol / kg in turkey burgers (20 mg vitamin E per kg feed). Supplementation of turkey feeds with 600 mg Yitamin E per kg resulted in a 24% reduction in hexanal content in cooked turkey burgers after storage for 7 days at 4 °C, compared to the control (unsupplemented) group.