BFPT III: 2018/2019

FP 324: Meat, Fish and Poultry Products

Technology

Lecture 1: Introduction
Reading assignment: Vaclavik, V.A. and Christian, E.W. 2008. Essentials of Food
Science, 3rd Edition, Ch.9

By
Martin Mutambuka (PhD)
 This course deals with the technology involve
d in the processing and storage of the various
food products originating from meat, fish, po
ultry and eggs.
◦ The safety issues associated with these products is
also be emphasized.
 Develop Process Flow Diagrams for products studied, and thereb
y describe the process and in particular be able to give a technic
al justification for the steps in the process.
 Analyze the processes studied and identify the control points for
quality and in most cases safety. For these control points you sh
ould be able to recommend appropriate parameters (and limits).
 Analyze qualitatively and in some cases quantitatively alternate p
rocessing approaches e.g. different chilling methods for fish pro
ducts, different curing methods for small goods, different drying
regimes for salamis.
 Critically evaluate processes for their effectiveness with respect t
o product quality, yield and in most cases safety.
 Compare and contrast products and processes and thereby identi
fy possible applications and limitations.
 Demonstrate an understanding of Food Standards in relation to t
hese food commodities.
 Slaughtering and butchering techniques.(6 hours)
 Structure and composition of various animal muscles.(6 hours)
 Post mortem muscle biochemistry. (4 hours)
 Storage and processing, preparing, and packaging meat, fish, an
d poultry. Equipment care and sanitation. .(15 hours)
 Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point system. (6 hours)
 Government regulations on meat quality; identification; grading;
manufacture; preparation and preservation; and merchandising a
nd consumer trends. (10 hours)
 Product development of added value products.(appropriate utiliz
ation of ingredients from other commodities such as Dairy and G
rain products in meat (fish, poultry and egg) products (4 hours )
 Selection of meaningful parameters for Sensory evaluation (2 hou
r)
 Waste management (Utilization and disposal) .(5 hours)
 Product and process food microbiology.(2 hours)
 Meat is the edible portion of mammals—the flesh of animals
used for food.
◦ “Meat” may include rabbit, venison, and other game, as well as the n
on mammals poultry and fish.
◦ Red meat is the meat from mammals including beef and veal, lamb,
mutton, and pork.
◦ White meat refers to meat from poultry.
◦ Seafood is derived from fish
◦ Game is from non domesticated animals.
◦ In addition to being sold fresh or frozen, meat also is available in proc
essed or manufactured products.
 Meat is composed of three major parts: muscle, connective tissue,
and adipose tissue (fat).
 Lean meats contain less adipose tissue than well-marbled cuts of
meat.
 The location of the cut of meat on the animal, muscle contraction,
and postmortem changes all influence the degree of meat tendern
ess.
 Regulation may include mandatory inspection, Kosher and Halal c
ertification
 Nutritionally, animal protein is a complete protein
◦ Vegetarians must therefore balance their protein sources
◦ Animal products comprise approximately 16% of the calories and 55% of the
protein in total world food supply
Physical Composition of Meat
Meat is composed of three tissues: muscle tissue, connective tissue, and
adipose/ fatty tissue
Muscle Tissue
◦ Muscle tissue is referred to as the lean tissue of meat.
◦ It includes cardiac, skeletal, and smooth muscle.
 Cardiac muscle is located in the heart.
 Skeletal muscle provides support for the weight of the body and moveme
nt
 Smooth muscle is the visceral muscle located, for example, in the digestiv
e tract, reproduction system, and circulatory system.
 Inside the muscle cell membrane are myofibrils containing alte
rnating thin and thick protein filaments, namely, the actin and m
yosin
◦ These contract and relax in the living animal.
◦ Each fiber is cylindrical with tapered ends and is covered by a thin conn
ective tissue sheath called endomysium.
◦ Small bundles of 20–40 fibers make up one primary bundle that represe
nts the “grain” of meat.
◦ This primary bundle is surrounded by perimysium connective tissue.
◦ Together, several primary bundles form a larger, secondary bundle that cont
ains blood vessels and nerves, surrounded by epimysium, dividing one ske
letal muscle from another.
◦ In between the muscle bundles, there are blood vessels and small pockets
of fat cells.
Connective Tissue
This meat component is made up of protein and mucopolysaccharides.
It is located throughout the muscle and determines the degree of meat tend
erness.
◦ Less is more tender
◦ Consists of endomysium, perimysium, and epimysium—structures that bind muscl
e fibers in bundles to form muscle.
The connective tissue extends beyond the muscle fibers to form tendons, w
hich attach the muscle to bones and hold and connect various parts of the b
ody.
Connective tissue also forms ligaments, attaching one bone to another;
It also connects skin to underlying tissue
It follows that meat containing a high degree of muscle tissue naturally has
a greater amount of connective tissue to hold myofibrils and bundles in the
muscle.
 Connective tissue is primarily protein held inside mucopolysaccharides.
 Collagen is the most abundant protein found in mammals
◦ in bone, cartilage, tendons, and ligament, enveloping muscle groups, and separating
muscle layers.
◦ It also is in horns, hooves, and skin.
 Collagen is tenderized when cooked with moist heat to water-soluble gelati
n.
 In older animals, the collagen is increased and may form many cross linkag
e, thus preventing solubilization of collagen to the more tender gelatin.
◦ The meat from older animals therefore is tough.
 A lesser component of connective tissue is the yellow-colored elastin protei
n, which is more elastic than collagen.
◦ Unlike collagen, it is not softened in cooking.
 Another minor connective tissue protein is reticulin; found in younger anim
als
◦ It may be the precursor of collagen or elastin.
Fatty Tissue
Cuts of meat may vary substantially in composition and appearance due to
the presence of adipose or fatty tissue.
Adipose tissue: fat that is stored around the heart, kidney organs, and in t
he
pelvic canal areas.
◦ Suet refers to the hard fatty tissue around the kidneys and other glandular organs
of cattle and sheep
Subcutaneous fat (finish/cover ): fat that is visible after the skin is removed
.
Intermuscular fat: fat between muscles (also known as seam fat).
Intramuscular fat: fat within muscles (marbling) (Figure 9.2).
When cooked, the melted fat contributes to juiciness, the sensation of tende
rness, and flavor.
Thus, well-marbled meat with intramuscular fat may be desirable
 The chemical composition of meat varies to a large degree.
◦ Meat may contain 45–70% water, 15–20% protein, and anywhere from 5 to
40% fat, depending on the cut and trim.
◦ Meat contains no carbohydrate (except for the liver, which stores glycogen).
 Water
 Water is the major constituent of meat and the greatest percentag
e is found in lean meat and young animals where fatty tissue is lo
w.
◦ Then, as an animal becomes more mature and fatter, with more adipose tiss
ue, the water forms a smaller proportion of the entire makeup compared to y
oung, lean animals.
 Can be lost (muscle coagulation, muscle fiber break down-due to
chemical, enzymatic, or mechanical tenderization; salting, pH cha
nge) or added back
 Meat is made of high biological value or complete proteins, contai
ning all of the essential amino acids in amounts and proportions th
at can be used in synthesizing body proteins.
 The three primary types of proteins in meats are myofibril, stromal
proteins, and sarcoplasmic proteins
 Myofibril proteins: Muscle bundles are groups of myofibrils comp
osed of several protein molecules including actin and myosin whic
h may form an overlap complex called actomyosin.
 Stromal proteins (connective tissue proteins): The watery conn
ective tissue contains fibrils of stromal proteins: collagen, elastin, a
nd reticulin
 Sarcoplasmic proteins: They include the pigments (e.g. hemoglo
bin & myoglobin) and enzymes.
Functions of protein in Meat
Nutritional Value
Texture
Color
Water-Holding Capacity
 Fat may be a major component of meat, although veal contains only a s
mall amount of fat.
◦ Fat varies in its degree of saturation
◦ subcutaneous fats generally are more unsaturated than fat around glandular org
ans.
 Saturated fat promotes less oxidation, and therefore less rancidity.
 In the animal, fat contributes to the survival of the living animal at low en
vironmental temperatures.
 In the diet, fat allows the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K to be carried
.
 As well, fats contain some essential fatty acids that are the precursor m
aterial used in the synthesis of phospholipids for every cell membrane.
 Cholesterol, a sterol, is present in the cell membranes of all animal tissu
e
 Carbohydrates
 Carbohydrates exist in small quantities as glycogen stored in
the liver as well as throughout the body as glucose

 Vitamins and Minerals

 Meat contains water-soluble B-complex vitamins that function
as cofactors in many energy-yielding metabolic reactions.
 The liver stores fat-soluble vitamins A,D, E, and K.
 The minerals iron (in heme and myoglobin pigments), zinc, a
nd phosphorus are present in meat.
 Muscle fibers contain bundles of myofibrils, which are respon
sible for contraction in the living animal.
◦ The myofibrils are composed of bundles of protein filaments known as
actin (thin filaments) and myosin (thick filaments)
 They are arranged in a specific pattern within a repeating lon
gitudinal unit called a sarcomere.
 The thin filaments occur at each end of the sarcomere and th
ey are held in place by Z-lines.
◦ The Z-lines define the ends of each sarcomere.
◦ The thick filaments occur in the center of the sarcomere and they over
lap the thin filaments.
 The extent of overlap depends on whether the muscle is contracte
d or relaxed.
 In a relaxed muscle, the sarcomeres are extended and there is not
much overlap of thick and thin filaments.
 However, a contracted muscle has a lot of overlap because the sa
rcomeres shorten as part of the contraction process.
 The thin and thick filaments are interspersed between each other i
n the regions where they overlap.
 A cross section of the myofibrils shows that each thick filament is s
urrounded by six of the thin filaments and every thin filament is sur
rounded by three of the thick filaments.
 This facilitates interaction between the thin and thick filaments wh
en contraction occurs
 Muscle contraction starts when a nerve impulse causes release of calcium
ions from the sarcoplasmic reticulum into the sarcoplasm
 The calcium ions bind to a specific site on the thin filaments, causing the a
ctive site on actin to be exposed.
 Actin molecules then are able to react with myosin, forming actomyosin.
 ATP is necessary as the energy source for this reaction.
 The myosin then contracts and pulls the actin-containing filaments further i
n toward the center of the sarcomere.
 The actomyosin complex then breaks and myosin forms another cross-link
with a different actin molecule.
 As the cycle continues, the sarcomere continues to shorten due to the for
mation of more cross-links and contraction occurs.
 When the nerve impulse ceases, calcium ions are pumped out of the sarco
plasm and returned to the sarcoplasmic reticulum.
 Actin and myosin cannot interact without calcium ions and so the actomyo
sin complex breaks.
 The muscle relaxes and returns to its original extended state.
 The “stiffness of death” – the stiffening of muscles in a dea
d animal due to the lack of energy in the muscle
 Occurs about 6-12 hours after death
 Energy is needed in muscle in order for the muscle fibe
rs to relax
 When an animal is killed there is no way for energy to b
e produced because there is no more oxygen entering t
he body
 Rigor mortis can be thought of as an irreversible muscl
e contraction
 Pre-slaughter death, rigor mortis, rate of carcass coolin
g affect muscle change after death
 Meat color can be affected by the concentration of heme pi
gments; myglobin, haemoglobin , their chemical states and
the light- scattering properties of the meat
 At high pH, the heme iron is predominantly in the ferrous st
ate (Fe2+), while at low pH accelerates ferrous iron conversi
on to the ferric state (Fe3+)
 Oxygen can bind to heme iron only if it is in the ferrous stat
e (Fe2+)
 Water can bind to myglobin (Mb) only if the iron is in the fer
rous form.
 Under low oxygen tension conditions, Mb exists in the purple
colored, reduced form (Fe2+).
 When exposed to oxygen for a short period of time, the centr
al iron (Fe2+) reversibly binds oxygen, producing oxymyoglo
bin (MbO2), which is bright pink or red
 When exposed to O2 for a longer period of time, the central ir
on atom can lose an electron (oxidized to Fe3+), producing m
etmyoglobin (MetMb), which is grey-brown
 Immediately post slaughter, the oxidized form can be reduce
d by endogenous reducing systems in the meat, as long as re
ducing equivalents (NADH) are available and the globin fractio
n is in its native state (undenatured).
 Over time, these reducing equivalents are depleted and the pi
gment is irreversibly oxidized
 Globin
H20 Fe3+
protein
Haem
Metmyglobin
(Brownish red)
Myoglobin
Oxymyglobin - oxygen (purple red)
(bright red)
+ oxygen Globin
02 Fe2+ Globin H20 Fe2+
protein protein
Haem Haem
When meat is packaged it gradually uses up th
+ heat
e oxygen present and at low levels of oxygen t
he pigment turns brown through oxidation. Usi
Denatured globin
Haemochrome
ng high oxygen packs enables the high levels
(brown to grey) of oxygen to be maintained longer in meat, kee
ping the red appearance for longer.
 Marbling is correlated to the distribution of
fat deposit (intramuscular fat) on connectio
n tissue of perimysium and endomysium pa
rts
 A certain level of marbling is necessary to a
ssure palatability, in term of juiciness and fl
avor
 The degrees of Marbling are abundant, mod
erately abundant, slightly abundant, modera
te, modest, small and slight
 Additional degrees: very abundant, traces a
nd practically devoid
 Degrees for pork: abundant, moderate, sma
ll, slight and traces
 US beef grades: Prime, Choice, Good, Stand
ard and Commercial
 Three other grades of beef there are utility,
cutter and canner
 There is relationship between marbling, mat
urity and quality of meat carcass