Effect of heating on anabolic hormone residues in meat

Studies on effects of pasteurisation of meat with spiked hormones at residue levels have been made. Beef and poultry meat samples which contained diethylstilbestrol and 19-nortestosterone were heated at 80 degrees C for 20 minutes. The hormones were quantified by highperformance liquid chromatography with UV detection on raw and pasteurised meat samples. Diethylstilbestrol is stable under these conditions and shows only slight reduction. There is a remarkable decrease in concentration of 19-nortestosterone in beef after pasteurisation when the initial level of hormone was high (1 mu g/g). For the samples with initial concentration of 19-nortestosterone below 50 ng/g no significant changes were observed.