Effect of heat treatment on free carnitine and acylcarnitine contents in venison

Abstract

For the purpose of promoting the utilization of venison as a functional food, we investigated the carnitine content in cooked venison. The present work aimed to quantitate free carnitine and acylcarnitine in cooked venison using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry [LC-MS/MS]. As a result of heat treatment, hydrophilic Lcarnitine showed a tendency to decrease, and hydrophobic acylcarnitine showed a tendency to increase, except under frying. However, only the acetylcarnitine showed a tendency to decrease because it is a low molecular weight compound that is connected to a two-carbon fatty acid. We propose that steaming is the most effective of the heat treatment methods tested in the present work for promoting the utilization of venison as a functional food. Copyright © 2014, Japanese Society for Food Science and Technology.