Research conducted by the University of Arizona College of Agriculture found that a compound in oregano reduces the formation of heterocyclic amines, the cancer-causing culprits that can form in grilled meats.
Meats have potentially cancer-causing compounds that form when it is grilled. Now in research conducted by the University of Arizona College of Agriculture, it was found that a compound in oregano reduces the formation of heterocyclic amines. During research, it was shown that adding oregano reduced the compound by 78 percent. In addition, it helps to inactivate the harmful E. coli in the meat.
Sadhana Ravishankar, an assistant professor in the UA’s department of Veterinary Science and Microbiology believes that, “We are preventing the formation of potentially carcinogenic compounds in the grilled meats.” The result is that people can eat safer meats that have been grilled.
Cancer Causing Compounds in Grilled Meat
Research has found that heterocyclic amines form in grilled, charbroiled or fried meat. As the meat, such as a hamburger, heats up, amino acids and glucose in it react with each other, forming molecules known as intermediates. Next, the intermediates react with creatinine, a molecule that is present in the muscle. This results in heterocyclic amines.
Results of Cancer Causing Compounds
Once the meat is eaten, the heterocyclic amines potentially can lead cell malfunction. Several epidemiological studies have shown a possible on between the eating of well-done meats and different types of cancer in humans.
However, there are standards for cooking such meats as hamburger that eliminate the harmful E. coli bacteria. Well-done is recommended to minimize the potential for foodborne illness.
According to Ravishankar, ground meat has to be heated to a temperature of 71 degrees Celsius to kill the E. coli bacteria. But while the center of the meat is still at that temperature, the periphery has already reached that ahead of time and the outer temperature continues to rise. The higher the temperature, the more formation of heterocyclic amines.
Oregano Oil Anti-Oxidants
During the research, the active ingredient of oregano oil, called carvacrol, was added to the meat. Then the meat was grilled and there was a reduction in the formation of the compounds. The explanation was that carvacrol has anti-oxidant properties that binds to or reacts with some of the intermediates and prevents them from forming the heterocyclic amines. However, it is not yet clear why this happens.
It is known that carvacrol has antimicrobial properties that inactivate E. coli which is a membrane-active compound that breaks down the chain of fatty acids that makes the outer membrane of an E. coli cell, causing the cell to leak its contents.
In collaboration with Mendel Friedman at the U.S. Department of Agriculure’s Agricultural Research Service Regional Research Center in Albany, Calif., other anti-oxidant and antimicrobial plant compounds and extracts are currently being tested.
The research has shown that for the first time a way to inactivate harmful E. coli and reduce the formation of potential carcinogenic compounds in grilled meat itself.
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