Cooking and endpoint temperature effects on the nutritional values of pork loin

Nutritional values of fresh pork retail cuts have been recently updated in a national program. Experimental design of a part of the program was set up to estimate the domestic cooking impact on the nutritional value of pork loins, and target cooking temperature influence was also determined. Analysis were conducted on 36 loin samples distributed in 4 treatment groups that applied endpoint temperatures from 70°c to 80°c, including control samples (raw). Cooking induced an increased content for a majority of minerals (from +12% to +55% for total iron, zinc, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and selenium) as for proteins, total fat, cholesterol, SFA, ash, B2 and B12 vitamins. Our results describe PUFA and MUFA (from ‐3% to ‐39%), B3 and B6 vitamins (‐25%) as heat sensitive nutrients. Endpoint temperature had no critical effects on nutrient composition of pork loins, except for MUFA, PUFA and vitamin B3 levels that showed a significant decrease above the threshold of 75°C endpoint temperature.