Suitability of saturated aldehydes as lipid oxidation markers in washed turkey meat

The aim of this study was to evaluate the suitability of saturated aldehydes as lipid oxidation markers in washed turkey muscle, by means of headspace solid phase microextraction-gas chromatography (HS-SPME-GC); the results were compared with the widely used thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARs) method. Changes in TBARs, propanal and hexanal concentrations were determined over time in a model system consisting of turkey muscle washed with a sodium phosphate buffer (pH 5.6). To stop oxidation from occurring during analysis, an antioxidant mixture (EDTA, trolox and propyl gallate) was added immediately before analyses. After antioxidant addition, propanal and TBARs concentrations did not increase during 8 h of further storage, while an unexpected decrease in hexanal was observed. To determine if aldehydes were interacting with washed turkey muscle, hexanal and propanal were added to either phosphate buffer or washed muscle and concentrations were monitored for 24 h. Neither propanal nor hexanal decreased in the phosphate buffer over time, but the headspace concentration of propanal and hexanal in washed turkey muscle were markedly lower (76% and 96%, respectively) at time zero and continued to decreased up to 24 h of storage. Because of this decrease in headspace aldehyde concentrations, TBARs were found to be a more sensitive and accurate marker of oxidative deterioration in washed turkey muscle.