Metodo Analitico per la determinazione del contenuto in ferro totale nella carne fresca

Lipid oxidation is one of the primary mechanisms of quality deterioration in foods and especially in meat and meat products and actually how this occurs still has not been resolved. It’s generally believed that the presence of transition metals, notably iron, is pivotal in facilitating the generation of species capable of abstracting a proton from an unsaturated fatty acid and in starting the oxidative process. The changes in quality are manifested by negative changes in flavour, colour, texture and nutritive value, and the possible production of toxic compounds. A simple and cheap method for the determination of total iron in fresh meat has been developed. Total iron was determined by using 1-10 Phenanthroline to detect the iron in wet ash digests. Sulphuric acid and hydrogen peroxide was employed for wet ashing. The method, validated in the range 3,8 – 34,3 μg Fe/g, showed average recovery (value ± standard deviation) of 99,2% ± 1,5%. The limit of quantification (LOQ) and limit of detection (LOD) were respectively 3,8 μg Fe/g e 1,0 μg Fe/g. The method was finally tested on raw beef meat, breast broiler and turkey meat samples