2

Introduction of Meat
• Meat: Meat is defined as flesh of animal fit for
human use especially cattle, sheep, cow etc.
• It refers to skeletal muscles, associated fat and
edible offals.
• Carcass: Carcass is the flesh after slaughtering.
Edible portion of carcass includes;
Lean Flesh (without fat)
Fat Flesh
Edible Gland/Organs
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• Meat composition varies widely depending on

various factors like ethnical, economical,
environmental, religious and health
concern associated with meat production.
• Chicken meat is popular in the world due to its
health benefits and lower fat level.
• Fish is rich source of omega 3 fatty acids
essential for physical & mental health and stands
after chicken due to its protein health.
• Chicken and fish are characterized as white meat
and beef and mutton as red meat.
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Exogenous reproduction and growth

control

Deliberate alteration of domestic livestock

reproduction growth and development is also
possible that will effect future meat growth.

Artificial insemination

It is most effective method of superior quality

meat animals and to enhance further
improvement.
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Hormones and antibiotics

• Male animals have comparatively larger
muscles than females animals

• Feeding antibiotics linked with increased

growth and feed conversion

• They enhances the starch digestibility in

ruminats however, the dose and type need
approval from organization
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Animal Tissue Composition

Animal carcass includes;
1. Muscles
2. Epithelial Tissues
3. Connective Tissues
4. Nervous Tissues
5. Adipose Tissues
6. Cartilages
7. Bones
8. Blood
9. Lymph
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1- Muscles
There are three types of muscles in animal body as;
1. Smooth Muscles:
Less abundant in body
Present in walls of arteries, lymph vessels,
gastrointestinal system and reproductive system
of animal body.
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1- Muscles (Cont.)
2. Cardiac Muscles:
Present in heart
Ability to contract rhythmically
Have microscopic transverse banding pattern,
called as Striation
Also called as Striated muscles
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1- Muscles (Cont.)
3. Skeletal Muscles:
Voluntary muscles
35-65% of the body mass
Allow the animal body to move on its own
Attached to bones, cartilages and skin etc.
Contain long, thin, specialized cells called as
muscle fibers.
provides support to animal locomotion
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1- Muscles (Cont.)
Muscles fibers are of two types;
1. Red Muscle Fibers: Red in color due to large
quantity of Myoglobin.
2. White Muscle Fibers: White in color, because
of less Myoglobin.

Color of body and different parts depends upon

proportion of Red and White muscle fibers.
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2- Epithelial Tissues
• Less abundant in animal body
• Present as lining on internal and external
surfaces of the blood vessels as well as edible
glands or organs
• Most of them present around blood vessels
surfaces destroyed during slaughtering and
processing
• Remaining epithelial tissues are only in edible
glands
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3- Nervous Tissues
• These include Central Nervous System (CNS) &
Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
• Only 1% of total meat
• Function of nervous tissues during slaughtering is to
affect meat quality
• More stress during slaughtering, low meat quality,
because stress converts glucose into lactic acid, lowering
pH of meat and quality decreases.
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4- Connective Tissues
• These tissues holds the animal body together
• Composed of tendons and ligaments, which are made of
three types of cells as;
 Structure less mass present as fluid between joints called
as Synovial fluid
 Embedded cells
 Extra-cellular fibers (Collagen 20-25% & Elastin 1% of
total body protein)
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5- Adipose Tissues
Adipose tissues are actually fat, there are two types
of fat in animal body;
• Brown Fat
• White Fat
Brown fat is present only in embryo and is
converted in to white fat when adult is formed.
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6- Cartilages
• Cartilages are soft bones
• Provide structural support to muscles with bones
• All bones are cartilages at embryonic stage, but
all cartilages are not converted into bones
• Present in different parts of body as, on surface
of bones at joints, in ears, between vertebra and
in ribs.
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7- Bones
• Bones give structural support to animal body
• Storage site for Ca, Mg & Na++ ions
• Red Blood cells (R.B.Cs), White Blood cells
(W.B.Cs) & Platelets are produced in bone
marrow
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8- Blood
• Blood is 7% of total animal body weight and
consists of three types of cells;
1. Red Blood Cells: Carry oxygen and nutrients
to different parts of body
2. White Blood Cells: Fights against infections
and play vital role in immunity
3. Platelets: Helps to stop bleeding by clotting of
blood
All these cells are suspended in plasma and
perform various functions.
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9- Lymph
• Fluid which passes through different parts of
animal body
• Carries nutrients to body tissues by diffusion
through thin capillaries
• Also plays an important role in body’s Immune
system
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The structure of meat

Animal flesh consists of muscle tissue or fibres, connective tissue and
fatty (adipose) tissue.
Lean meat is the muscle tissue of animals.
Muscle cells comprise of:
• water
• proteins
• minerals
• vitamins
• the red protein called myoglobin
(similar to the blood pigment haemoglobin)
• fat
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What’s the connection?

Meat muscle is made up of bundles of muscle
fibres held together by creamy white connective
tissue.

Tendons join the muscle (made up of bundles

of muscle fibres, surrounded by connective
tissue) to the bones of animals.
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Muscle fibres in action

Individual muscle fibres are made up of cells which

contain the proteins actin and myosin.

In live animals, actin and myosin work together to

make the muscle contract and relax. Connective
tissue is made up of two proteins called collagen
and elastin.
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Collagen

The connective tissue in and around the muscle

fibres and tendons is mostly collagen. When
meat is cooked, the collagen becomes soft and
soluble, and forms gelatine.
Elastin
This is much more elastic connective tissue.
It is yellow in colour and remains tough, even
when cooked. The ligaments which join two
bones together are mostly made up of elastin.
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MUSCLE TISSUE
• Mainly protein in nature
• Protein – 15-22%, high biological value
• Consist of skeletal, cardiac and smooth muscles.

CONNECTIVE TISSUE
• Mainly composed of
• Collagen
• Elastin
• Reticulin
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COLLAGEN

• Primarily protein
• Flexible non-elastic fibers
• White or colorless
• Contracts to thick mass when heated
• More tender - cook with moist heat
• Some hydrolyzed to water soluble gelatin
• Older animals - collagen coil with less solubility due to
cross-linkages
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ELASTIN

• Lesser component than collagen

• More elastic than collagen

• Holds bone and cartilage together

• Not softened to gelatin

• Yellow color
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RETICULIN
• Very small fibers, Network around muscle cells
• Found in younger animals
FATTY TISSUE, fatty acids
• Mainly triglycerides
• Fat – 5-40% (lean 7-10%)
• Energy storage
• Dependent on animal feed, hormones, age, genetics, breed,
biological state, nutritional status, part of carcass cut is
from
• Percent increases with age
• Deposited around organs, under skin, between and within
muscles
• Held by strands of connective tissue
• Melted fat contributes to juiciness sensation of
tenderness and flavor
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TYPES OF FATTY TISSUE

• Adipose tissue -around heart, kidney
• Suet - hard fatty tissue around organs, more
saturated
• Subcutaneous fat - under skin, more unsaturated
• Intermuscular fat - between muscles (seam fat)
• Intramuscular fat - within muscles (marbling)
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WATER
• 45-75% (lean = higher water content)
• Decreases with maturity and increased fat
• In muscle fiber - less in connective tissue
• Decreases when muscle fibers broken due to chemical,
mechanical, enzymatic tenderization or salting, or
change in pH
• Curing increases water content
• Protein releases water as it coagulates.
Carbohydrates
• Negligible
• Stored in liver as glycogen
• In blood as glucose
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VITAMINS AND MINERALS

• Vitamin B complex - no Vitamin C
• Fat soluble in liver  low in A & D in red meat
• Iron in heme and myoglobin pigments
• Minerals including
• Zinc
• phosphorus in muscle,
• Minor level of copper