FTec 150 Introduction to

Poultry/Livestock Product
Processing and Preservation
FTec 150
Lesson 2
FTec 150 Fresh Meats
Lesson 2
How do you define “fresh meat”?

• Animal tissue that is

suitable for use as
food

• Fresh meat quality is a

complex concept
determined by
consumer preferences
FTec 150 Red Meats
Lesson 2
What are red meats?

• Pork
• Beef
• Mutton & lamb
• Chevon
• Carabeef
• Horse meat
• Dog meat
FTec 150 Red Meats
Lesson 2
Animals and their meats…
Animal Meat
Pig pork
Cattle (cow) beef
Calf (young cow) veal
Deer venison
Sheep mutton
Buffalo (carabao) carabeef
Goat chevon
FTec 150
Lesson 2 Animal muscle is converted to meat…

• Muscles do not suddenly terminate all their

living functions and become meat
• A number of chemical and biochemical
and changes take place in living system
• Some of these reactions continue, while
others are altered
• These different reactions are responsible
for the conversion of muscle to meat
 Death of animal
FTec 150 Principal changes
Lesson 2 following death of Stoppage of blood circulation Stoppage of action
animals of phagocytes
O2 supply fails

Oxidn-redn potential fails

Respiration ceases Glycolysis commenses

Glycogen CO2 Glycogen lactic acid

ATP & creatine

pH falls
phosphate fall

Onset of Protein Cathepsins liberated

rigor mortis denaturation & activated

Accum. of various Exudation Protein Bacterial

metabolites, flavors discoloration breakdown growth
precursors, etc.
FTec 150 Meat Quality
Lesson 2
 Meat quality is important to the consumer
 Meat quality is an especially critical issue for the
meat industry in the 21st century
 Consumer demands for high quality meat
 Meat industry should consistently produce and
supply quality meat that is tasty, safe and healthy
for the consumer
 This will ensure continued consumption of meat
products
FTec 150 Meat Quality
Lesson 2

 Meat quality can be defined by most consumer

preferences which are directly related to human
senses:
 Appearance
 Smell
 Taste
 Mouthfeel
FTec 150 Meat Quality
Lesson 2
 Meat quality can also be defined by scientific
factors:
 Composition
 Nutrients
 Color
 Water holding capacity (WHC)
 Tenderness
 Functionality
 Flavors
 Spoilage
 Contamination
FTec 150 Major Qualities of Meat
Lesson 2

1. Visual appearance
2. Flavor
3. Juiciness
4. Tenderness
FTec 150 Major Qualities of Meat
Lesson 2

Visual appearance (Appearance

Quality Traits)
o Meat color
o Amount & distribution of fat
o Fat color
o Amount of drip on the surface of the meat
and purge on the tray (WHC)
o Texture of the meat
FTec 150 Visual Quality of the Meat
Lesson 2

COLOR (most important appearance quality trait)

• Dependent on several factors:
• Pigment content
• Ultimate pH
• Rate of pH decline postmortem
• Physical characteristics of muscle
FTec 150 Color : PIGMENTS
Lesson 2

COLOR
• 2 main pigments: hemoglobin and myoglobin

• Hemoglobin – blood pigment [carries oxygen

in the blood; most lost during the harvest
processes]
 Function is not as useful because the
blood has been drained from the body
and is only found in trace amounts found
in the body
FTec 150 Color : PIGMENTS
Lesson 2

Myoglobin
• muscle pigment [contribute about 70% of the
red color of meat]
• Majority of color is due to myoglobin
FTec 150 Color : MYOGLOBIN
Lesson 2

CHEMICAL STATE OF MYOGLOBIN

Fe2+ - Oxymyoglobin
Fe3+ - Metmyoglobin
cooked – wholesome
uncooked – lack of freshness
FTec 150 Metmyoglobin reducing activity (MRA)
Lesson 2
FTec 150 Metmyoglobin reducing activity (MRA)
Lesson 2
Oxygenation (+ 02 )

Reduction (- 02)

purplish red (Fe 2+) Reduction bright red (Fe 2+)

FTec 150 Metmyoglobin reducing activity (MRA)
Lesson 2
FTec 150 Metmyoglobin reducing activity (MRA)
Lesson 2

Meat color (beef) as affected by pH

FTec 150 Properties of Fresh Meat
Lesson 2

Chemical state of pigment

- upon exposure to air  reaction with oxygen (O2)
a) oxymyoglobin (bright red color)
forms w/n 30-45 minutes
BLOOM – dev’t of bright red color
b) metmyoglobin (brown) – oxidized form
FTec 150 Typical Color of Fresh Meat
Lesson 2

• Beef – bright, cherry red

• Horse – dark red
• Lamb & mutton – light red to brick red
• Pork – grayish pink
• Poultry – gray-white to dull red
• Veal – brownish pink
FTec 150 Properties of Fresh Meat
Lesson 2

COLOR INTENSITY
• Affected by many factors
• species
• muscle location and function
• age
• exercise
FTec 150 COLOR INTENSITY
Lesson 2
Effect of species on the myoglobin content of meat

Species Color Myoglobin

(mg/g wet)
Pork Grayish pink 1–3

Lamb Brick red 4–8

Beef Bright cherry red 4 – 10

Poultry (dark) Light tan 1–2

Tuna White 0.5 – 1

FTec 150 Typical Color of Fresh Meat
Lesson 2
Effect of species on the myoglobin content of meat

• Beef – bright, cherry red

• Horse – dark red
• Lamb & mutton – light red to brick red
• Pork – grayish pink
• Poultry – gray-white to dull red
• Veal – brownish pink
FTec 150 COLOR INTENSITY
Lesson 2
Effect of age on the myoglobin content of meat

Age Myoglobin
(mg/g wet tissue)

Veal 1–3

Young beef 4 – 10

Mature beef 16 – 20
FTec 150 COLOR INTENSITY
Lesson 2
Effect of muscle location and function on the
myoglobin content of meat
Muscle Myoglobin
(mg/g wet tissue)
Leg 1.75 – 2.0

Heart 2.8 – 2.9

Gizzard 19.6 – 26.5

FTec 150 DISCOLORATION OF MEAT
Lesson 2

Many factors contribute to the discoloration

of meat during processing, storage and
display
• Predominant determinant of color
stability: rate of oxymyoglobin oxidation
(bright red color)
(brown)
forms w/n 30-45
minutes Oxidized
form
FTec 150 DISCOLORATION OF MEAT
Lesson 2

• rate of discoloration is muscle-specific

• rapid discoloration occurs in muscles that
contain greater relative proportions of type I
muscle because due to higher oxygen
consumption rate
• PSE in pork (Pale, Soft, Exudative) – paleness
of PSE pork due to high proportion of free
water in the tissues compounded by the direct
effect of the low pH on the pigment
FTec 150 DISCOLORATION OF MEAT
Lesson 2

• Myoglobin destruction due to microbial

growth
• Microorganisms use the pigments as
nutrients and the heme ring is split
from the protein part of the pigment
which result to greening
FTec 150 JUICENESS OF MEAT
Lesson 2

• Juiciness is affected by:

 Water in meat, which is contributed
by the water holding capacity (WHC)
 Lipid in meat, which provides oil
barrier around muscle bundles during
cooking
FTec 150 Water Holding Capacity (WHC)
Lesson 2

• The amount of drip on the surface of the

meat and the purge in the tray depend
on the water holding capacity of meat
• WHC is closely related to the color of the
meat due to its role in the loss of the
myoglobin and the reflectance at the
surface of the meat.
FTec 150 Water Holding Capacity (WHC)
Lesson 2

• The amount of drip on the surface of the

meat and the purge in the tray depend
on the water holding capacity of meat
• WHC is closely related to the color of the
meat due to its role in the loss of the
myoglobin and the reflectance at the
surface of the meat.
FTec 150 Water Holding Capacity (WHC)
Lesson 2

• Drip loss originates from:

• the spaces between muscle fiber bundles
and the perimysial network
• the spaces between muscle fibers and the
endomysial network

• These spaces appear during rigor

development went muscle converts to
meat
FTec 150 MEAT TEXTURE
Lesson 2

• Texture of meat is directly related to the

size of muscle fiber and the amount of
connective tissue
• Relatively large muscle bundles are
responsible for the coarse, undesirable
texture on the transversely cut surface
of the meat
FTec 150 MEAT TEXTURE
Lesson 2

• Muscle fiber diameter varies with:

• species
• chronological age
• state of nutrition of the animal
• muscle fiber characteristics
• Coarseness of the meat surface is increased
with the thickened connective tissue strands
as well as increased in size of muscle bundle
FTec 150 MEAT TEXTURE
Lesson 2

• Partially affected by the quantity of

intramuscular fat (IMF)
• because IMF deposits mainly in the
perimysium between the muscle
• IMF produces effects on flavor, juiciness,
tenderness and visual characteristics of meat
with increased marbling in meat
FTec 150 MEAT TEXTURE
Lesson 2

• The quantity of IMF is affected by many

factors:
• animal breed
• slaughter weight
• feeding strategy
• growth rate
• IMF tends to increase with advancing age
when the major stages of muscle growth
have been completed
FTec 150
Lesson 2
For questions and clarifications:

• Dr. Lynette C. Cimafranca –

lynette.cimafranca@vsu.edu.ph
• Dr. Jocelyn G. Daclag –
jocelyn.daclag@vsu.edu.ph
• Dr. Marisel A. Leorna –
marisel.leorna@vsu.edu.ph