Meat Technology Assignment
Meat Technology Assignment
Meat Technology Assignment
University of Sargodha
Assignment
Meat Technology
Meat Quality
Introduction:
Quality is the degree of acceptance of something.
The sum of characteristics of a given food item that influence the acceptability and preference of that
food by consumer are:
Visual appearance
Smell
Firmness
Juiciness
Tenderness
Flavour
Visual Identification:
The visual identification of quality meat is based on colour, marbling and waterholding capacity.
Meat color:
Myoglobin is the principle pigment of meat that is responsible for meat color.
A diet with high content of iron will result in high amount of myoglobin
The concentration of myoglobin increases with age so that older animals have darker color than
younger one..
During the time meat is stored the color changes to a darker brown-color because of the formation of
metmyoglobin.
When meat is cut and exposed to oxygen in air, it takes about twenty minutes for myoglobin to change
to oxymyoglobin, which is brighter red in color. after sometimes, the meat becomes a browner color
again metmyoglobin formed.
these colors changes do not make any difference to the taste or texture.
Meat color varies from uncooked to cooked meat.
Smell:
Another quality factor is smell.
The product should have a normal smell.
This will be different for each of the species (i.e. beef, pork, chicken), but should vary only slightly
within the species.
Any rancid or strange smelling meat should be avoided.
Firmness:
Meat should appear firm rather than soft.
When handling the retail package, it should be firm, but not tough .
Juiciness:
Juiciness depends on the amount of water retained in a cooked meat product.
Juiciness increases flavour, helps soften meat - making it easier to chew..
Water retention and lipid content determine juiciness.
Marbling and fat around edges helps hold in water.
Water losses are from evaporation and drip losses.
Meat aging can increase water retention and therefore increases juiciness.
Tenderness:
Has been linked to several factors, such as the animal's age, sex (male animal have more muscles and
connective tissues, so their meat is tough as compared to female animal, which have more fatty
tissues), and muscle location.
One important way to tenderize meat is by aging.
The optimum temperature requirement for rigor mortis is 14-21°C. If the temperature is more or less
than the optimum temperature the resulting meat will be hard and tough.
Flavor:
Flavor and aroma are intertwined to create the sensation the consumer has during eating.
These perceptions rely on the smell through the nose and on the sensations of salty, sweet, sour and
bitter on the tongue.
Meat flavor is affected bythe type of species, diet, cooking method and method of preservation (e.g.
smoked or cured).
pH decline
The accumulation of lactic acid lowers down the muscle pH which is an important postmortem change
during the conversion of muscle to meat.
The pH decline are variable, being influenced by the species of food animals, various preslaughter factors,
environmental temperature, etc. in most species, a gradual decline continues from approximately pH 7 in
the living muscle during first few hours (5 to 6 hours) and then there is a little drop in the next 15 to 20
hours, giving an ultimate pH in the range of 5.5 to 5.7. the rate of pH decline is enhanced at high
enviornmental temperature.
PSE (pale, soft and exudative) at low pH
DFD (dark, firm and dry) at high pH
Rigor Mortis
Meat Technology
Immediately after the animal is killed, the muscles are soft and pliable. As the pH falls, the development of
a stiff and rigid conditions occurs.
Biochemically, it is accompanied by the formation of actomycin.