RETENTION OF SOME VITAMINS OF THE B‐COMPLEX IN BEEF DURING COOKING¹

Abstract

The extent to which cooking may alter the nutritive value of foods has been the subject of many investigations in recent years. A few of these have been concerned*with the effects of cooking on the retention of vitamins of the B-complex in meat. McIntire, Schweigert, Henderson, and Elvehjem (1943) ; McIntire, Schweigert, and Elvehjem (1943) ; McIntire, Schweigert, Herbst, and Elvehjem (1944) ; and Schweigert, McIntire, and Elvehjem (1943) have determined the retention of thiamin, riboflavin, and nicotinic acid during cooking of veal, lamb, pork, variety meats, and cured pork hams. Cover, McLaren, and Pearson (1944) determined the retention of thiamin, riboflavin, nicotinic acid, and pantothenic acid in rare and well-done rib roasts of beef. These investigations indicate that meat in general retains a high percentage of the vitamins of the B-complex during cooking, but that there is some heat destruction of thiamin and pantothenic acid. Since many of the retail cuts of beef require moist heat and longer cooking periods than those used for the rib roasts in Cover's study (1944)) there is further need to demonstrate the extent to which different methods of cooking beef may affect the retention of the B-vitamins.The present investigation was designed to study the retention of nicotinic acid and pantothenic acid when beef was braised, broiled, and fried under standardized conditions representative of good home-cooking procedures. I n the experiments on fried beef liver the retentions of thiamin and riboflavin were also included. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDUREBraising: Pot roasts were used for the braising studies. Heel-ofiround was chosen to represent chunky, boneless cuts and chuck to represent thinner cuts with more surface area. Four pot roasts of each cut were used. The heel-of-round roasts weighed an average of 3.2 pounds and the chuck roasts 3.5 pounds before cooking. The heel-of-round roasts were cooked in a cast-aluminum pan, and the chuck roasts in a cast-iron pan. Both pans were provided with self-basting covers.The cooking was started when the internal temperature of the meat was 10 to 12OC.(50 to 53.6'F.)) by searing for 15 minutes in fat trimmed from the cut, using a full gas flame. After searing, a meat thermometer was inserted into the center of the meat, 25 ml. of water were added, and the pan was immediately covered. Two thermometers fitted into a cork were 'This study is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D.

Biological Properties of Vitamins of the B-Complex, Part 1: Vitamins B1, B2, B3, and B5

“…Niacin is stable during heat processing of meat, vegetables, and legumes; leaching into the cooking water or drippings is usually the main cause of its loss, which can make about 5–55% [ 70 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 78 , 97 , 108 , 111 , 113 , 415 , 473 , 474 , 475 , 476 ]. For example, niacin content in boiled beef is 45% in comparison with that in raw meat, and the rest, 55%, occurs in the soup [ 100 ].…”

Excessively High Riboflavin Retention during Braising of Beef. A Comparison of Methods of Assay

“…If the high retentions, in this present" study, as obtained by both assay techniques were due to a fallacy in the method of calculation on the total fat-free dry-weight basis, it would seem that other vitamin retentions determined on the same meat and calculated by the same method should tend to be parallel, even though, because of destruction, they run below 100%. On this presumption, pantothenic acid and niacin data by Meyer (14) on the same beef cuts were compared and no correlations in per cent retention of the different vitamins on the identical samples were found. Moreover, in the frying and broiling experiments by Tucker (S5), in which excessive retentions were not obtained, the calculations were made by the same scheme and the drippings, though small in volume, were also included.…”