offal

Liver of Bovino by R.Borgacci

What's this

What is bovine liver?

Bovine liver is a food of animal origin that is part of the offal group; in the whole of the fifth quarter of the animal - coratella, tripe, rinds, heart as food, brain as food, spleen as food, language as food, nerves etc - is probably the most consumed cut.

Containing proteins with high biological value, specific minerals and vitamins, bovine liver is classified in the first fundamental group of foods; moreover, it uses more than significant nutritional concentrations of: other water-soluble vitamins - different from those typical of the group of foods in question, such as folic acid and vitamin B12 or cobalamin - fat-soluble vitamins - vitamin A or retinol and vitamin D or calciferol - other minerals different from those typical of the group of foods in question - for example zinc, selenium and phosphorus - cholesterol, purines etc. Bovine liver also contains a small concentration of glycogen - a reserve carbohydrate - and vitamin C or ascorbic acid. The nutritional properties of bovine liver depend on its biological functions; for more information read also: Liver as Food.

The liver can be contextualized in almost all diets; the diet of the subject affected by pathologies of the metabolism, the nutritional regime of pregnant women, etc. are exceptions or require greater care. The average portion is equal to or less than that of the muscle and the frequency of consumption must respect the recommendations disclosed for the meat. A certain attention to the level of hygienic safety of the food is recommended.

The liver of bovine, more precisely of calf, is the most used for alimentary purpose. It is part of the gastronomic tradition of the whole peninsula, with greater consumption in the north.

Curiosity

For bovine - or better domesticated cattle - calf, beef, cow and bull; nevertheless, the most popular types of bovine liver are veal and beef.

That of the cattle is a biological Tribe, belonging to the Subfamily Bovinae, Family Bovidae, Suborder Ruminantia and Classe Mammalia. The Genus most affected by the food trade in Italy is the Bos, Species taurus .

Nutritional Properties

Nutritional properties of bovine liver

Bovine liver belongs to the first fundamental group of foods - a nutritional source of essential amino acids, mineral salts and specific vitamins.

It has a medium energy supply, mainly provided by proteins, followed by lipids and finally by few carbohydrates. Peptides have a high biological value, ie they contain all the essential amino acids in the right quantities and proportions with respect to the human protein model. The amino acid profile of bovine liver is largely made up of: glutamic acid, aspartic acid, leucine and lysine; remarkable the presence of phenylalanine. Bovine liver is rich in energy fats - fatty acids organized in triglycerides - only when supercharged. The lipid profile of bovine liver shows a prevalence of unsaturated fats on saturated fats - the latter still relevant. The glucides are complex and more precisely consist of glycogen.

Bovine liver does not contain fiber and is rich in cholesterol - regardless of the nutritional status of the slaughtered animal. It does not contain lactose, gluten or histamine; instead purines abound.

With regard to vitamins, bovine liver contains all the solubles of group B: thiamine (vit B1), riboflavin (vit B2), niacin (vit PP), pantothenic acid (vit B5), pyridoxine (vit B6), biotin ( vit B8 or vit H), folic acid and cobalamin (vit B12); the presence of ascorbic acid (vit C) is interesting but quantitatively poor. The contribution of two liposoluble vitamins is also excellent: retinol (vit A) and calciferol (vit D). Note : folic acid and vitamin C are thermolabile, which is why they do not "resist" cooking and are mostly inactivated.

As for minerals, bovine liver is characterized by the significant concentration of: bioavailable iron, zinc, phosphorus, selenium, potassium, copper and molybdenum.

Percentage Macronutrienti Energetici Liver di Bovino
Bovino LiverÃ, Â
NutritiousQuantity'

Edible part

100%
water70.0 g
Protein20.0 g
Lipids4.4 g
Saturated fatty acids1.34 g
Monounsaturated Fatty Acids0.77 g
Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids1.13 g
Cholesterol191.0 g
TOT Carbohydrates5.9 g
Starch / Glycogen- g
Soluble Sugar- g
Food fiber0.0 g
Soluble- g
Insoluble- g
Power142.0 kcal
Sodium81.0 mg
Potassium320.0 mg
Iron8.8 mg
Football7.0 mg
Phosphorus350.0 mg
Magnesium18.0 mg
Zinc6.0 mg
Copper3.7 mg
Selenium42.0 mcg
Thiamine or vitamin B10.26 mg
Riboflavin or vitamin B23.30 mg
Niacin or vitamin PP13.5 mg
Vitamin A or RAE16500.0 mcg
Vitamin C or Ascorbic Acid31.0 mg
Vitamin E or Alpha Tocopherol- mg

Hygiene

Hygienic aspects of bovine liver as food

Being the organ mainly responsible for metabolic processes, bovine liver can contain unwanted molecules, both of pharmacological derivation and of environmental or food origin.

This depends above all on the lifestyle of the slaughtered animal. Cattle are breeding animals, which is why the use of antibiotics and anabolics varies considerably depending on the source of supply. The same applies to environmental pollutants, especially when the animals feed and water in the pasture. The hypothesis that feed contains pollutants is remote, but not impossible.

Moreover, even cattle can be affected by parasitosis; the organisms most frequently responsible for the disease in these animals, which may also be harmful to humans, are: Echinococcus (pathology, hepatic echinococcosis) and Fascicola hepatica (hepatic-biliary dystomatous disease). For this reason, before the trade, a "sample" veterinary inspection of the bovine liver is fundamental.

In general, it is advisable to choose guaranteed products, equipped with traceability and tracking; buying a liver of cattle taken from slaughtered animals at home can be a reckless choice.

Diet

Beef liver as a food in the diet

Bovine liver is a cheap and very nutritious food that lends itself to the diet of all healthy subjects. In the slimming diet it is instead advisable to reduce any fat used in cooking, oil or butter, to ensure a normolipid and low-calorie intake.

Despite the good ratio of fatty acids (saturated: unsaturated = <1), due to the high cholesterol content, bovine liver is not particularly suitable in case of hypercholesterolemia. In a portion of bovine liver is found over 60% of the recommended daily cholesterol ration and almost 100% for a hypercholesterolemic.

Bovine liver, rich in high biological value proteins, is very useful in the diet of those who find themselves in conditions of increased protein requirements; for example: pregnancy and lactation, growth, extremely intense and / or prolonged sports, old age - due to an eating disorder and a tendency to malabsorption - malabsorption, recovery from specific or generalized malnutrition, debasement.

Bovine liver provides a significant amount of phenylalanine and is not among the foods suitable for phenylketonuria.

It is an excellent food source of bio-available iron and, regularly consumed in the diet, optimizes the coverage of the recommended ration. This is greater, and related to iron deficiency anemia, in fertile women - especially pregnant women - in marathon runners, vegetarians - especially in vegans. It contributes to the coverage of the phosphorus requirement, abundant in the organism and in particular in the bones and in the phospholipids - of the cellular membranes, in the nervous tissue etc. The content of zinc and selenium is more than appreciable; these two antioxidant minerals also have many other functions: zinc is essential for hormonal and enzymatic production, selenium for the health of the thyroid gland. It is not considered a primary source of potassium, but still contributes to the coverage of the specific requirement - greater in case of increased sweating, for example in sports, increased diuresis and diarrhea; the deficiency frequently leads to the onset of cramps and weakness. It is an alkalizing agent necessary for the functioning of the membrane potential which can be useful in the fight against high blood pressure.

Bovine liver is rich in B vitamins, all coenzymatic factors of great importance in cellular processes. It can therefore be considered an excellent support for the correct functioning of all body tissues. The vitamin D content is important and very useful; also called calciferol, it is generally rare in food - because it is largely produced in summer skin - but necessary for the functioning of the immune system and bone metabolism. The bovine liver recommended in the diet of the growing subject and also in the preventive osteoporosis. Very rich in vitamin A, it helps support visual function, cell replication, reproductive function, etc. However, given and considering the potential teratogenic effects related to the nutritional excess of this vitamin, it is advisable for pregnant women to be careful not to exceed the maximum dose.

The content of vitamins normally extraneous to foods of animal origin is interesting, although of secondary importance; we are talking about folic acid - necessary for the replication of nucleic acids and very important in pregnancy - and vitamin C - antioxidant and essential for the immune system. Bovine liver is a food that - due to hygienic, organoleptic and taste issues - requires deep cooking, right down to the heart of the food, with temperatures above those of pasteurization. Folate and vitamin C are very vulnerable to high temperatures, as a result of which they tend to degrade, therefore the bovine liver cannot therefore be considered a significant source of these nutrients.

Containing important levels of purines, bovine liver is not recommended for those suffering from hyperuricemia - especially severe, with gouty attacks - and for those who have a greater tendency to calculosis / renal urinary lithiasis.

It is instead pertinent in lactose intolerance, in celiac disease and in histamine intolerance. It is not allowed in the vegetarian and vegan diet. Bovine liver is allowed in the Muslim and Jewish diet, but not in the Hindu and Buddhist one.

For the hygienic aspects mentioned above, it is necessary that subjects with compromised immune system or in special conditions - for example pregnant women - pay particular attention to the cooking of bovine liver - which must be total and deep - but above all to the choice of the supply source, which must necessarily be of a regular and certified type, and possibly of a high quality standard.

The average portion of bovine liver is 100-150 g (about 140-210 kcal).

Kitchen

Advice for buying bovine liver

To recognize a good bovine liver from a poor quality one, we must recognize it:

  1. Bright, turgid and NOT dehydrated appearance
  2. Typical color (depending on the animal species of origin), not spotted or dotted.

Being highly perishable, it is necessary that the bovine liver is always kept in refrigeration or by freezing.

Culinary aspects of bovine liver

From the gustatory point of view, the bovine one is the most delicate liver among the ingredients obtained from the big animals proposed on the market. The taste is initially sweet, secondarily replaced by slightly bitter notes. The feeling of being held is characteristic of all livers.

Bovine liver is an exclusively cooked food to eat. The preferred processing methods are those for conduction, in a pan or in a casserole. Recently, the application of vacuum-cooked or vasocottura cooking has been experimented, systems that allow the organoleptic and gustatory characteristics of the food to be altered as little as possible. The bovine liver, more precisely that of veal, is also affected by some baked recipes.

Among the most famous recipes with bovine liver we remember: liver breaded in the Milanese style, fried liver from Friuli, liver sautéed with butter and sage, etc.