Processing of Meat

Meat:
• Meat refers mainly to skeletal muscle and adhering fat
obtained from warm-blooded animals, though other
parts including internal organs which are fit for human
consumption are also considered as Meat.
• Apart from skeletal muscle, meat includes heart muscles
and smooth muscles of spleen, lymphatic glands,
epidermis, intestinal tract and mucous linings.
• The muscle tissue contains 75% moisture, 22%
nitrogenous substances, 1.5-2% fat, 1% minerals and
0.05-0.2% carbohydrates.
• The nitrogenous substances are mainly proteins which
belong to mainly proteins which belong to three groups
contractile proteins, water soluble proteins and water
insoluble proteins.
• The contractile proteins constitute the major amount of
proteins and include myosin, actin, tropomyosin and
troponin.
• The soluble proteins include myoglobin, haemoglobin
and enzymes.
• The insoluble proteins are mainly collagen and elastin of
connective tissues and lipoproteins of the membrane.
• Other nitrogenous substances include free amino acids, peptides,
amines, guanidine compounds, purines, pyrimidines and
quaternary ammonium compounds.
• Glycogen content of muscle varies depending on the age and
condition of the animal prior to slaughter.
• Sugars constitute only to the extent of 0.1%
• Muscle tissues are rich in vitamins such as thiamine, riboflavin,
nicotinamide, pyridoxine, pantothenic acid, folic acid, biotin,
cyanocobalamin.
• It contains minerals such as K, Na, Mg, Ca, Fe, Zn, P and Cl.
• The red colour of the meat is due to myoglobin and meat cured
with nitrates remain pink for long time.
 Post mortem changes in meat
• Muscle is a highly specialized tissue; it converts chemical energy
into mechanical energy. Muscle require large outlay of energy
for contractile proteins and this energy is derived from ATP
• As soon as a animal is slaughtered, blood circulation stops and
anaerobic conditions set in and energy rich phosphates like
creatine phosphate, ATP and ADP undergo degradation.
• Glycogen remains the sole energy source and glycolytic
reactions continue for some time till pH of the muscle
decreases to about 5.5 due to formation of the lactic acid, or till
glycogen reserve is available.
• As glycolysis comes to a stop, ATP generation also comes
to end and the muscle tissue undergoes the state of
Rigor mortis(Rigor mortis is a postmortem change
resulting in the stiffening of the body muscles due to
chemical changes in the myofibrils).
• The onset of Rigor mortis occurs differently in different
species and also depends upon age, state of activity of
the animal before its slaughter and feeding practices. In
general, Rigor mortis sets in within 10-20 hours in beef,
4-8 hours in pork and 2-4 hours in chicken.
• The rate of decrease in pH and the final pH of the muscle influence the
water holding capacity of meat and are of significance in determining the
quality of meat.
• Rapid decrease in pH and ATP levels causes pork muscle to become pale,
soft and undergo extensive drip loss because of lower water holding
capacity.
• Such as PSE meat has a low tensile strength, loses substantial amount of
weight on hanging, and on thawing, drip losses continue.
• Similarly occurrence of DFD meat is characteristic of stress impaired hog.
DFD meat has high pH due to low level of lactic acid.
• Rapid and intense cooling of the muscle tissue leaves the meat with
greater water holding capacity and makes it of better quality compared to
muscle tissue cooled slowly.
 Aging or Ripening of Meat
• If the meat is held for some time after it has gone into rigor
mortis, the muscle again becomes soft and pliable with
improved flavour. Some changes take place during this
period, known as ageing or ripening.
• During Ageing there is progressive tenderization of meat
owing to denaturation of muscle proteins and mild hydrolysis
of denatured proteins by intracellular proteolytic enzymes,
the cathepsins.
• The enzymes slowly breakdown the connective tissues
between muscle fibres as well as the muscle fibres
themselves.
• Ageing or ripening is done by holding meat at a temperature of
0.5 to -2°C in a cold room. Ageing may take 1-4 weeks. The best
flavour and the greatest tenderness develop in meat aged from
2-4 weeks.
• During ageing, humidity of the cold room is to be controlled
and meat may be covered with wrapping to minimize drying
and weight loss.
• The ageing may also be affected by holding it at a higher
temperature for a shorter time, usually 20°C for 48 hours.
Ageing with even higher temperature fro less time is practised
commercially. In such cases, UV light is exposed to prevent
bacterial growth.
• Beef is usually the only kind of meat that is commercially aged.
Pork is never aged because of its high fat content.
 Tenderizing of Meat
• Tenderness is most desired quality of meat. The
amount of distribution of connective tissues and the
size of both muscle fibres and bundles of fibres
determine the tenderness of meat.
• Cold room storage results in the natural ripening of
meat with tenderizing from meat’s natural enzymes.
• There are certain artificial methods of increasing the
tenderness of meat to various extents. These include
mechanical methods, use of enzymes and salts.
-The mechanical methods of tenderizing meat include
• pounding
• cutting
• grinding
• needling/pinning
• use of ultrasonic vibrations.
Use of enzymes for tenderization of meat.
• Old method of wrapping of meat in papaya leaves before cooking.
• Bromelin from pineapple, ficin from figs, trypsin from pancreas and
fungal enzymes. These proteolytic enzymes catalyse the hydrolysis of one
or more proteins of meat.
• The effectiveness of enzyme as tenderizer depends upon the way in
which it is used.
• Commercial papain sprinkled on surface of meat penetrates to a depth of
1 mm per hour. But disadvantage of uneven distribution.
• Freeze-drying meat and again rehydrating it in water containing
proteolytic enzymes has been found effective.
• Tenderizing enzymes remain inactive until the meat is heated.
Papain, for example becomes active when the meat is heated
to 55°C and acts on the proteins during cooking operation until
the meat temperature reaches about 82°C.
• Over tenderization by enzymes is not good as it changes the
texture of meat and results in loss of flavour.
• Meat can also be tenderized by using low levels of salts. Salt
solubilizes the meat proteins. Salts used are sodium chloride,
sodium bicarbonate and sodium or potassium phosphate.
• Another method is change of pH. Decreasing or increasing pH
of meat increases hydration and its tenderness. Soaking beef
for 48 hours in vinegar increases its tenderness.
 Curing of Meat
• Curing brings about the modification of meat that affects
preservation, flavour, colour and tenderness , due to added
curing agents.
• Originally curing was practised as a means of preservation
before days of refrigeration.
• In modern methods of preservation, the prime purpose of
curing is to produce uniquely flavoured meat products and
another special purpose of curing is to preserve the red
colour of the meat. Thus cured meat and cured pork remain
red on cooking, while the uncured meat becomes brown.
• The ingredients used for curing are common salt, sodium nitrate or
nitrite, sugar and spices.
• Salt retards microbial growth and gives flavour to the meat. Nitrite
fixes the red colour of myoglobin. Nitrite also has a beneficial effect
on the flavour of cured meats and an inhibitory effect on
Clostridium botulinium.
• Sugars helps stabilize colour, counteract saltiness, and also adds
flavour. The high osmotic pressure of the external fluid initially
draws water and soluble proteins out of the meat. Later, salt
diffuses into the meat and binds to the proteins, causing some
expelled protein to diffuse back. This causes swelling of the meat.
• Spices are added mainly for flavour.
• During the curing process, the curing mixture may be
rubbed dry on the surface of a cut of meat or meat may
be immersed in a solution of the curing agent. These
processes of curing are slow when meat is cut into large.
• Curing has some detrimental effects during storage. The
meat becomes brown in presence of oxygen.
• Carcinogenic effect of nitrite is seen if meat is cooked at
high temperature.
Smoking:
• The sawdust from hardwoods is used as a fuel for
smoking.
• Slow smoking is preferable, since extended smoking
results into surface drying.
• Smoke contains compounds having antiseptic
properties, which destroys micro-organisms.
• Smoking also prevents the development of rancidity
of meat.
 Classes of meat
1. Beef : meat of cattle over 1 year old.
- Veal : cattle slaughtered 3-4 weeks after birth.
- Steer: bovine male animal of very young age
- Heifer: female bovine that has not born a calf
2. Mutton: Ovines
- Lamb: flesh of young ovine animals ( 12 months or younger)
- Yearling mutton : 12-20 months old
- Mature mutton: 20 months old
3. Pork: meat of swine (3-12 months)
- Trichinella spiralis. destroyed by heating at 58°C or
freezing at -5°C for 20 days or -28°C for 6 days.
4. Organ Meats: less expensive and more nutritive.
5. Sausages: Ground or minced meat. Cured meat is used
for this purpose.
 Cooking of Meat
• When meat is cooked, 3 types of changes contribute to
increased tenderness. They are melting of fat, dissolution of
collagen in hot liquids to become soft gelatin, and tissue
softening and muscle fibre separation.
• Generally, lower cooking temperature for a longer period of
time is better than a higher temperature for short periods of
time.
• Testing for degree of doneness is an important aspect in
meat cookery.
• 2 methods of cooking: Dry heat and moist heat methods.
1. Dry heat methods:
• Roasting: Uncovered pan with meat is placed in oven to roast.
Temperature of 163°C is achieved by inserting a thermometer inside
the thickest part of meat.
• Broiling: Cooking meat by direct radiant heat, such as open fire of gas
flame, live coals or electric oven. Temperature of 176°C is achieved
until topside is brown.
• Pan broiling: By conduction of heat through pan. Carried out at low
temp.
• Frying: for thin tender meat cuts. Turning of meat is necessary to
prevent burned flavour or dryness.
2. Moist heat methods:
• The combination of moisture, heat and a long period of cooking
causes meat to become tender owing to the conversion of connective
tissue to gelatin.
• Braising: first the meat is browned on all sides by broiling and then
small amount of water is added to the browned meat and a tight
fitting lid is kept and cooked at low heat until meat becomes tender.
• Stewing: large pieces of tough meat are cooked until tender.
• Pressure cooking: Cooking with steam at higher temperature.
• Cooking frozen meat: cooking after thawing.