Viandes crues, viandes cuites : quels effets de la cuisson sur la composition en nutriments des viandes ?

Having precise nutritional composition data is necessary to meet regulatory, practical, clinical, public health and scientific needs. But the impact of the cooking is not always well taking into consideration. However, cooking meat changes its nutrient content. A majority of nutrients do not undergo losses because they are not discharged into the juice and are not very sensitive to thermal-degradation, notably proteins, amino acids, intramuscular fats and fatty acids, zinc or selenium. Because of juice losses, cooking causes those nutrients and the energy density to be concentrated in cooked meat. In contrast, soluble and heat-sensitive nutrients, such as heme iron and vitamin B6, undergo a drop in the cooked meat content for long and high temperature cooking (boiled or braised meat). For soluble and heat-resistant nutrients, such as vitamin B3 and B12, raw and cooked meats have the same content. This information underlines the importance of taking into account the changes in the composition of meat caused by cooking to best evaluate its contribution to nutritional intake. This paper gives an overview on the quantitative changes in meat composition according to various cooking practices and on their consequences on nutritional values of cooked meat.