Formation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Lamb during Roasting

Abstract

Formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in lamb grilled over charcoal and changes of PAH content with roasting time are described. Two hundred grams of lamb meat containing 65.2% moisture was grilled over charcoal for 0, 3, 5, 10, 15 and 20 min at 500— 600°C. The roasted meat was homogenized with 600 ml of chloroform-methanol (2: 1, v/v) and extracted three times. After filtration and clean-up on a silica gel column and by thin-layer chromatography, PAHs were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography and gas liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The lipid content decreased with increasing heating time. The maximum concentrations of PAHs were 49.0 ppb for pyrene, 40.9 ppb for chrysene, 36.0 ppb for fluoranthene, 28.0 ppb for 9-methylanthracene, 17.1 ppb for anthracene, and 8.9 ppb for phenanthrene at 3 min roasting, and 17.4 ppb for benzo[a] pyrene at 5 min roasting. The mutagenic activity of each PAH decreased with increasing heating time. PAH formation was well correlated with lipid contents in lamb meat (r= 0.926, p< 0.05). © 1994, Japanese Society for Food Hygiene and Safety. All rights reserved.