Analysis of the Early Stages of Lipid Oxidation in Freeze-Stored Pork Back Fat and Mechanically Recovered Poultry Meat

An analytical method that can detect low levels of oxidation in food earlier than a sensory panel would be a valuable tool for food manufacturers as well as research institutes. Two model matrixes, pork back fat and mechanically recovered poultry meat (MRPM), were freeze-stored in air at −20 °C for 26 weeks. Peroxide value, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, volatiles analyzed with dynamic headspace gas chromatography−mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and a gas-sensor array technique (electronic nose), chemiluminescence, and front-face fluorescence were evaluated against sensory analysis with regard to detection of early oxidation and correlation with sensory data. Fluorescence and GC-MS could detect oxidative changes in pork back fat earlier than the sensory panel and the electronic nose at the same time. The three methods were highly correlated with sensory attributes (r = 0.8−0.9). GC-MS gave the best results with regard to detection of small oxidative changes in MRPM. Keywords: Pork back fat; mechanically recovered poultry meat; dynamic headspace/GC-MS; fluorescence; chemiluminescence; peroxide value; TBARS; gas-sensor array; electronic nose; sensory analysis; lipid oxidation; rancidity