Changes in the lipids of turkey muscle during storage at chilling and freezing temperatures

Diced turkey leg and breast muscle stored for 22 days at 0° and —3°, and for up to one year at —10°, —20° and —60° was examined at intervals for lipid composition. Free fatty acids increased at all temperatures except —60°, with a Q10 of 3‐4 between 0° and —20° 90% of the fatty acids liberated were unsaturated, matching in composition the unsaturated acids of the muscle glycerophospholipids. Demonstration of linear relationships between increase in free fatty acids and decrease in phosphatidylethanolamine or increase in lysophosphatidylcholine confirmed phospholipase A2 as the enzyme mainly responsible. The composition of the fatty acids liberated during storage at 0° and —3° showed that both lipase and phospholipase were active. A slight decrease in extractability, resulting in an apparent loss of phospholipid‐P, was observed after storage at low temperatures.