FATTY ACID COMPOSITION OF MEAT FROM VARIOUS ANIMAL SPECIES AND THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS IN TRANS- ISOMERIZATION OF FATTY ACIDS

In assessing the nutritional value of a food product, its fatty acid composition is important. Meat products contain essential fatty acids that positively influence human health, and saturated fatty acids, the high level of which does not allow them to be attributed to healthy nutrition. The article describes the use of raw meat from various species of animals and poultry according to their fatty acid composition; presents the possibility of changing the composition of fatty acids to produce healthy food. The presence of trans-isomer fatty acids (TIFA) in food products is the risk factor for human health. Meat raw materials contain trans fatty acids of natural and industrial origin. The results confirming trans fatty acids formation at the stage of animal growth (biohydrogenation and as the result of the use of growth promoters) and during meat processing (heat treatment at high temperatures, storage, use of sodium nitrite) are presented. At present, meat products are not considered to be a source of health-threatening TIFA, but the results presented in the review confirm the need for further research to identify factors that affect the fatty acids isomerization process in meat and semi- meat products and the normalization of their content in finished products