Authors Lombardi Boccia G., Lucarini M., d’Evoli L., Aguzzi A., Gabrielli P., Camili E. (CREA (Council for Agricultural Research and Economics) – Food and Nutrition) Abstract

The ongoing study is planned to provide a picture of compositional figure and nutritional value of meat based dishes typical of Italian culinary tradition. The goal is to develop a database of the recipes among the most widespread ones in Italy in order to estimate the dietary nutrient intake through diet. The main database outcome lies in offering a range of nutritional data that are a useful tool for the food policy makers.

Data on the composition of cooked foods and dishes are often missing in nutritional databases, conversely they can offer reliable information on the effective nutrient intake and can represent a proper and useful tool to guide consumers and nutritionists in the formulation of specific diets. Material and Methods Several meat cuts of bovine and pork were analysed and, in order to assess changes in the nutrient composition, raw and cooked meat cuts were compared.

Each selected dish was prepared three times in a test kitchen; stainless steel tools were used. After cooking, each dish was homogenised and stored at -30°C for subsequent analyses. Samples were analysed for macro-nutrients (AOAC), fatty acids (GC/MS), cholesterol, macro elements (Ca, Mg, Na, K, P) and trace elements (Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn) (ICP-OES), B vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin), vitamin E and t-retinol content (LC/MS/MS).

Results

For each recipe more than 30 nutrients are presented. The database contains information on cooking methods and recipe formulation (ingredients). Our findings show substantial differences between raw meat and the respective meat based dishes. These differences were mainly due to ingredients. Among ingredients, olive oil was responsible for the shift of fatty acids classes to MUFA as well of the significant increase in vitamin E content.

Conclusion

The choice of the foods for daily consumption and the way in which they are prepared, the ingredients included in the recipes, strongly changes their intrinsic nutritional value. This can play an important role in determining the overall quality of the daily diet and have, therefore, a direct impact on health status. Our findings provide data about changes occurring upon cooking in foods as consumed in the daily recipes compared with the raw foods. The knowledge of the changes in molecules of nutritional interest (eg. fatty acids, iron, zinc, vitamins, cholesterol) occurring upon cooking is of importance because this allows to get a correct calculation of their actual intake at consumer level, and can be a proper and useful tool to formulate more accurate diets. The study contributes to establish criteria necessary to design appropriate data base that includes the recipes specific for meat-based dishes, and can highlight the impact of certain foods and diets on health, and assist potential users and industry leaders to develop better guidelines food policy.

Keywords:

• database
• meat dishes
• recipe

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