The effect of commercial sterilization treatments on the levels of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs)
in meats was investigated. The amounts of both free and protein-bound Nε
-carboxymethyllysine (CML) and
Nε
-carboxyethyllysine (CEL) in beef (rump, ribeye, short plate), pork (hind leg, tenderloin, belly), and chicken
(chicken breasts, drumsticks) were determined using an HPLC–MS/MS method. Beef and pork had a small proportion
(raw b15%; sterilized b8%) of free AGEs compared to the total AGEs, but raw chicken breasts had very
high levels of free CEL (7.12 ± 9.98 mg/kg; n = 13) with large biological variation compared to pork (0.19 ±
0.09 mg/kg; n = 9) and beef (0.44 ± 0.19 mg/kg; n = 9). Commercial sterilization (121 °C for 10 min) did not
significantly affect the amounts of free CML or CEL, but led to about 0.6- to 3.6-fold increase of protein-bound
CML and CEL. The amounts of protein and fat content in beef or pork had very little effect on the formation of
protein-bound AGEs during sterilization process.