Suitability of the TBA method for assessing lipid oxidation in a meat system with added phenolic-rich materials

Numerous protocols and modifications of the thiobarbituric acid (TBA) test are available in the literature. The present paper compares the effectiveness of different TBA tests in minimizing the interferences caused by the addition of phenolic-rich materials (wild fruits) as antioxidants in cooked burger patties. The aqueous acid extraction procedure (EM) and a modified distilation TBA method (DM) were tested with different conditions of incubation – boiling (B) vs. room temperature (RT) – for monitoring lipid oxidation in cooked burger patties during refrigerated storage. DM-B and DM-RT were more suitable than EM procedures for assessing TBA-reactive substances (TBA-RS) in meat samples containing compounds such as anthocyanins, with similar spectral properties than that of the TBA–malondialdehyde (MDA) adduct. Additionally, interferences caused by browning development during incubation were avoided by DM procedures or by performing RT incubations. Correlations between TBA-RS numbers and hexanal contents in cooked pork burger patties were calculated in order to corroborate the suitability of the tested TBA procedures. The DM-RT procedure showed the highest correlation with hexanal content (R2 = 0.90; p < 0.001).