In a recent study conducted at the University of Porto, researchers found that beer and wine marinades reduced the level of heterocyclic amines (HAs) present in pan-fried beef. It had previously been demonstrated that wine marinades reduced the formation of specific HAs in chicken, and the research group that conducted this study wanted to determine the effect of using beer. Furthermore, the research group was concerned with determining how beer and wine marinades affected the appearance and quality of pan-fried steaks. The study used HPLC to determine HA concentrations and two trained sensory panels to rate quality and appearance.
Why use beer and wine? Though further investigation is needed, it has been hypothesized that some HAs form via free radical reactions during the process of cooking. Therefore, it has been hypothesized that the antioxidants present in beer and wine and prevent HA formation via free radical scavenger activity.
How did the marinades affect meat appearance and quality? Steaks that had been marinated for longer than two hours were excluded from sensory tests, as they produced unpleasant odors. However, two-hour beer marinades did not affect meat quality or appearance.
So should we marinade all our meats in beer or wine? The paper never suggests that beer-soaked meat will prevent cancer. Instead, it simply states that beer and wine marinades influenced HA levels in meats. But as we have discussed before, the media is hungry for juicy headlines.
The title of the paper is Effect of Beer/Red Wine Marinades on the Formation of Heterocyclic Aromatic Amines in Pan-Fried Beef, by Melo et al. You can find it on PubMed.
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3 comments:
If it is the antioxidant properties of the beer and wine that help reduce the HA levels of the meat then would marinating in fruits high in antioxidants also have the same effect? Or is it the specific antioxidants present in the beer and wine that causes them to reduce HA levels.
Maybe if it the factor is isolated it can be added as a separate ingredient while meat is being cooked to lower HA levels.
That is an interesting point that Steven raises. Why haven't researchers looked for food additives (such as antioxidants) that would decrease the formations of HCAs? It's about time we added something useful/healthy to our foods!
I'm also curious about the relationship between airborne cooking by-products and those present in the meat. Did this article mention anything about this? Obviously, they must be related. It is interesting that the article we will be discussing in class tomorrow is about the HCAs released into the air during cooking while this article was concerned with those actually in the meat. Both research groups used HPLC in their analyses, but the extraction techniques are different. While I am sure that the beer/wine marinades would also cut down on the airborne HCAs, I wonder how the effects would correlate with those on the HCAs in the cooked meat.
Natalie, this article didn't test for airborne HCAs, but I would imagine their levels would also be reduced after marinading.
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