Kwame Nkrumah University of

Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

MEAT

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 What is Meat?
Meat is the flesh, including fat, and other parts
naturally associated with the flesh, of any animal or
bird normally used for human consumption

Meat indicates the contractive tissue (muscle) that

is used for food
Different muscles are used for different purposes
(speed/force)
This results in a variety of sensory properties
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 Muscle structure

Epimysium surrounds the entire muscle

Perimysium surrounds a group of muscle fibers
Endomysium surrounds a muscle fiber
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 Muscle fiber
*alternative name of skeletal muscle cells

Sarcoplasmic
reticulum

Sarcolemma

Muscle fiber is the cell with the nucleus, organelles and other components
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Electron microscope image of the
banding of the muscle fiber

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Thin filaments are Thick filaments are
comprised of actin comprised of myosin

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Muscle under the microscope

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 Myosin structure
Contains six polypeptide chains, two heavy and four light

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Thick filament structure

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 Thin filament structure

G-ACTIN

F-ACTIN

Troponin and tropomyosin on the thin filament, control

the access of the myosin molecules to the active sites
on the actin molecules during muscle contraction
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CONNECTIVE TISSUE

Hold and support the muscles:

tendons, epimysium, perimysium,
endomysium
The major fraction of the connective
tissue is the protein COLLAGEN. It
contributes significantly to toughness
of meat. Old animals give tougher
meat than young. This is due to the
properties of collagen

The partially hydrolyzed product of

collagen is GELATIN. Gelatin has a
lot of applications in the food industry

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 GELATIN
Gelatin is a product obtained by the partial hydrolysis of
collagen derived from the skin, connective tissues and
bones of the animal or fish.

A-gelatin: obtained by acid treatment, cattle, bones

B-gelatin: obtained by alkali treatment, pigs, fish

Pigs (skin), Cattle – split, Cattle Bones – Ossein, Fish

Skins
Tryptophane and cystine are absent, and methionine is only
present at a relatively low levels. Proline, hydroxyproline and
glycine 50% of the amino acid composition
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 Gelatin applications
Food applications: Gelation, formation of heat
reversible gels, Prevention of syneresis, Thickening
agent, Moisture retention, Improvement of texture
Emulsification, Binding of meat pieces, Foaming
Forms transparent elastic thermoreversible gels on cooling below
about 35 oC, which melt at higher temperatures to give 'melt in the
mouth' products with useful flavor-release.

Pharmaceutical, Photographic, Technical applications

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 RIGOR MORTIS
• After death the phenomenon of rigor mortis
occurs
• The actin and myosin form permanent crosslinks
because of lack of ATP
• Can develop 1-24h after death and muscles
become stiff
• After rigor mortis the muscles gradually become
tender again
• This is where the meat is left to hang or mature
and is known as ageing of meat
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 COLD SHORTENING
• When animal carcases are cooled
fast below 15 oC immediately after
slaughter (before rigor mortis, pre-
rigor muscle) cold shortening
may occur
• Meat shrinks severely and
becomes tough
– Rapid shortening of post-
slaughter muscle during rapid
cooling
– Muscles shrink to 35-40% of
original length
• Muscles should be maintained
>10 oC until they pass into rigor
mortis
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 pH drop
Drop in pH from 7.0 to 5.6
Deviations in pH drop: Pale, Soft and
Exudative (PSE) pork, Dark, Firm & Dry (DFD)

PSE is caused by stress during slaughtering. Difficult to use or

cannot be used at all. Pigs must rest and handle them quietly
before slaughter. Occurs in pork.

DFD occurs in cattle, and sheep sometimes pigs and turkeys soon
after slaughter. DFD meat means that the carcass was from an
animal that was stressed, injured or diseased before being
slaughtered.
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Tuna-muscle texture of cooked PSE pork

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 Water-holding capacity
(WHC)

ability to retain water during cutting,

grinding, cooking, pressing, drying,
chewing

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Blue dots between
actin and myosin,
represent water
molecules.

Loss of
moisture in
PSE meat

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 Processing effects on WHC
• Salt
– increases WHC
– shifts isoelectric point to lower pH
• Phosphates
– raise pH
– increase net charges
– chelate Fe++, Mg++, etc.
– ‘specific protein effect’
– Pyrophosphates
• Freezing and thawing
– cell wall disruption
• Fermentation
– reduced pH, reduces WHC
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 Aging of Meat
• Occurs as muscles become more tender due to protein
denaturation
– Tenderness is increased with time between slaughter and consumption
– Meat held under controlled conditions
– Carcass hung 1-4 weeks at 2°C with humidity control to minimise
moisture loss
– Time of ageing varies species and age
– Younger animals: less aging

• Cathepsins, calpains are proteolytic enzymes that contribute to

meat tenderness

• Also a number of treatments that can be applied to the meat to

tenderise it and maximise quality of meat in minimal time:
electrical stimulation, addition of proteolytic enzymes (papain),
special cutting and hanging techniques
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Factors affecting tenderness
• Sarcomere length
• Temperature
• pH
• Proteolysis
• Fibre type composition
• Collagen content
• Breed
• Animal nutrition
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 COLOR
Myoglobin is a protein that contains heme and is
able to react with oxygen

Heme

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Heme contains iron

Iron reacts with

oxygen

The state of iron

oxidation
determines the
color of the meat
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OXIDATION PATHWAYS

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Green colors due to the presence of sulfmyoglobin (H2S) or
choleglobin (ascorbate, reducing agents)

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 FISH MUSCLE
Also go through rigor mortis where various quality parameters
are affected
Myotome or Myomer Myocommata or Myoseptum
Muscle tissue Connective tissue

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 QUALITY

TEXTURE
Internal
Internal condition
condition Factors
Factors affecting
affecting quality
quality
Fat
Fat content
content Genetics
Genetics
Color
Color Freshwater
Freshwater vs.
vs. Seawater
Seawater
Gaping
Gaping External
External condition
condition Nutrition
Nutrition
Texture
Texture Shape
Shape Growth
Growth rates
rates
Blood
Blood spotting
spotting Fins
Fins Harvest
Harvest
Eating
Eating quality
quality Scales
Scales and
and skin
skin Storage
Storage conditions
conditions
Shelf-life
Shelf-life
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 Gapping

QUALITY
DEFECTS

Bruising Blood spotting

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 Total volatile basic amines (TVB) is used to measure seafood quality.

Measurement of:
Trimethylamine (produced by spoilage bacteria),
Dimethylamine (produced by autolytic enzymes during frozen storage),
Ammonia (produced by the deamination of amino-acids and nucleotides)

NH3

Biogenic Amines
Histamine, putrescine, cadaverine and tyramine are produced
from the decarboxylation of histidine, ornithine, lysine and
tyrosine, respectively.

Histamine is associated with incidents of scombroid poisoning in

conjunction with the ingestion various fish.
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