Fatty Acid and Triglyceride Composition of Horse Meat Lipid

Abstract

The lipids used in this study were extracted from the back (M. longissimus dorsi), the round (M. rectus femoris) and the shoulder (M. triceps branchii) meat of horses which were imported to Japan as the raw materials for meat industry.
The round contained more C18:2 and less C16:0, C16:1 and C18:1 than the back or the shoulder in the total and the phospholipid fractions. The back and the shoulder contained more C18:0, C18:0 and C18:2 and less C18:1 than the round in the neutral lipid fractions. And, the free fatty acid fractions, in general, highly contained poly-unsaturated fatty acids such as C18:2, C18:2 and C20:4.
In horse meat lipids, C14:0, C16:1, and C18:2 were found to exist in higher concentrations in the 2-position than in the 1- and 3-position of triglycerides, and on the contrary, C16:0 and C18:0 were predominantly esterified on the 2-position of glycerols.
It was considered that the major component triglycerides of horse meat lipids were 1, 3-dipalmito-2-olein, 1-palmito-2, 3-diolein, 1, 2-dipalmito-3-olein, tripalmitin, 1, 2-dipalmito-3-stearin, 1-palmito-2-oleo-3-stearin, triolein, 1, 3-dioleo-2-palmitin, et cetera.