Fatty Acid Composition of Meat from Ruminants, with Special Emphasis on trans Fatty Acids

The fatty acid composition was determined in 39 samples of beef, 20 samples of veal, and 34 samples of lamb, representative of the supply of ruminant meat in Denmark. Five cuts of beef and veal and three cuts of lamb with increasing fat content were selected, and analysis of the fatty acid methyl esters was performed by gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) on a polar 50-m capillary column CP Sil 88 with flame-ionization detection. Lamb had the highest content of saturated fatty acids (52.8 +/- 1.8 g/100 g fatty acids), higher than beef and veal (45.3 +/- 3.1 and 45.4 +/- 0.8 g/100 g fatty acids, respectively). Cis monounsaturated fatty acids were 49.2 +/- 3.1, 44.9 +/- 1.8, and 37.7 +/- 1.7, and polyunsaturated fatty acids were 3.3 +/- 0.7, 5.8 +/- 2.0, and 5.0 +/- 0.1 g/100 g fatty acids in beef, veal, and lamb, respectively. Beef contained 2.1 +/- 0.8 g trans C-18:1 per 100 g fatty acids, about half that found in veal (4.0 +/- 1.2 g/100 g fatty acids) and lamb (4.5 +/- 0.6 g/100 g fatty acids). Trans C-16:1 was 0.24 +/- 0.01, 0.14 +/- 0.02, and 0.79 +/- 0.02 g/100 g fatty acids in beef, veal, and lamb, respectively. Only small variations in trans and other fatty acids could be demonstrated between cuts. The overlap between cis and trans C-18:1 by capillary GLC was verified by argentation-thin-layer chromatography followed by GLC, on three samples of veal and three samples of lamb. In veal 1.0 g, and in lamb 1.4 g trans C-18:1 per 100 g fatty acids were hidden under the cis C-18:1 peak. The mean intake of trans fatty acids from ruminant meat is estimated at 0.2 g/d.