Thermo-alkaline Treatment as a Practical Degradation Strategy to Reduce Indospicine Contamination in Camel Meat

• Published in: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
• Main Author: Tan E.T.T.; Yong K.W.L.; Wong S.-H.; D'Arcy B.R.; Al Jassim R.; De Voss J.J.; Fletcher M.T.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Chemical Society 2016
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84994745662&doi=10.1021%2facs.jafc.6b03499&partnerID=40&md5=afae67af0092692c5b0d82d78340d495

Ingestion of indospicine-contaminated camel and horse meat has caused fatal liver injury to dogs in Australia, and it is currently not known if such contaminated meat may pose a human health risk upon dietary exposure. To date, indospicine-related research has tended to focus on analytical aspects, with little information on post-harvest management of indospicine-contaminated meat. In this study, indospicine degradation was investigated in both aqueous solution and also contaminated meat, under a range of conditions. Aqueous solutions of indospicine and indospicine-contaminated camel meat were microwaved (180 °C) or autoclaved (121 °C) with the addition of food-grade additives [0.05% (v/v) acetic acid or 0.05% (w/v) sodium bicarbonate] for 0, 15, 30, and 60 min. An aqueous sodium bicarbonate solution demonstrated the greatest efficacy in degrading indospicine, with complete degradation after 15 min of heating in a microwave or autoclave; concomitant formation of indospicine degradation products, namely, 2-aminopimelamic and 2-aminopimelic acids, was observed. Similar treatment of indospicine-contaminated camel meat with aqueous sodium bicarbonate resulted in 50% degradation after 15 min of heating in an autoclave and 100% degradation after 15 min of heating in a microwave. The results suggest that thermo-alkaline aqueous treatment has potential as a pragmatic post-harvest handling technique in reducing indospicine levels in indospicine-contaminated meat. © 2016 American Chemical Society.