Comparison of Intramuscular Fat Composition of Red Muscle and White Muscle

Red muscle and white muscle were separated from bovine, porcine and poultry skeletal muscles, respectively. Intramuscular lipids were extracted and fractionated to neutral-, glyco- and phospho-lipid by silica gel chromagraphy and then fatty acid composition were analyzed with gas chromatography. The results obtained were as follows; Total lipid content of red muscle was higher than that of white muscle in case of beef and chicken. In pork, however, total lipid content of white muscle was higher than red muscle The content ratio of neutral lipid to phospholipid revealed a number of distinctions between red and white muscle among animals. There were noteworthy differences in respect of polyunsaturated fatty acid. The intramuscular fat of pork had the higher content of highly polyunsaturated fatty acid such as arachidonic acid in contrast to beef.