William Atkins
Saturday, 10 January 2009 22:00
Science -
Health
Page 1 of 3
Portuguese researchers got out their frying pans and cooked steaks that were marinated in either red wine or beer. They found that the formation of certain cancer-causing compounds were lessened when compared to cooking unmarinated steaks.
Armindo Melo, Olga Viegas, Catarina Petisca, Olivia Pinho, and Isabel M.P.L.V.O. Fereira performed the research and wrote up their conclusions in the article “
Effect of Beer/Red Wine Marinades on the Formation of Heterocyclic Aromatic Amines in Pan-Fried Beef.”
It appears in the October 24, 2008 issue (DOI: 10.1021/jf801837s) of the
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, which is a publication of the American Chemical Society.
Lead researcher in the study, Dr. Ferreira, who is from the University of Porto in Portugal, and fellow colleagues conducted their research to determine if steak marinated in beer or red wine would reduce the creation of heterocyclic amines (HAs, or HCAs).
HAs are produced during the cooking of muscle meat from beef (such as steak), pork, fowl, and fish at high temperatures.
These human-cancer-causing carcinogens are formed when amino acids and creatine react with the high temperatures of cooking (such as frying, barbecuing, grilling) these muscle meats.
The researchers performed their experiment under well-controlled temperature and time conditions. After the cooking of the steaks, the sample meats were analyzed with respect to the amount of HAs formed during the cooking process.
The steaks cooked without being marinated provided a control group for the researchers; that is, provided a base-reference as to levels of HAs.
Find out what the researchers concluded on page two.
