VITAMIN-A-CONTENTS OF PORK LIVER AND LIVE R SAUSAGE - EFFECTS OF PROCESSING

According to the press release of the German Federal Health Institute in 1990, increased vitamin A contents in liver could be responsible fo r a higher risk of teratogenic effects if pregnant women are consuming liver or liver containing products too often. In liver sausages conta ining an average content of 10 to 30% pork liver the effects of the pr ocessing steps on the vitamin A contents were investigated. The main t asks were the determination of vitamin A contents were analysed in sam ples taken at five different processing steps. With the HPLC method th e isomer all-trans-retinol and 13-cis-retinol could be determined sepa rately. Vitamin A contents in liver ranged between 19.70 and 38.20 mg/ 100 g and in liver sausages between 4.99 and 11.26 mg/100 g. During th e heating process of the liver sausage batter no significant reduction of the vitamin A contents was observed.