Nutritive Value of

Meat

By:
Pooja Sri
IV th year
Avinashilingam University
 Introduction
• Meat is very nutritious
food, almost fully
digestible.
• It is appealing to the
eyes and pleasing to the
sense of olfaction
• muscles are converted
into meat through some
post mortem changes.
• Nutritive value of meat:
high quality proteins,
EFA, minerals and B-
complex vitamins
 Proximate composition and caloric
value of different livestock products
Composition of meat
 Water
• Muscle contains approximately 75 per cent water
(ranges from 65 to 80%) by weight.
• Water is the principal constituent of the extra
cellular fluid and numerous chemical constituents
are dissolved or suspended in it.
• Because of this, it serves as the medium for the
transport of substances between the vascular bed
and muscle fibers.
 Meat Proteins
• Generally lean meat contains 16 to 22 per cent
protein.
• Meat proteins are superior to plant protein because
proteins of high biological value are present in
meat in a concentrated form.
• Muscle proteins are broadly divided into following
three categories:
– Soluble in water or dilute salt solutions (the
sarcoplasmic proteins) 
– Soluble in concentrated salt solutions
(myofibrillar proteins)
– Insoluble in salt solution at low temperature
(proteins of connective tissue and other formed
structures)
• Myoglobin, haemoglobin and various enzymes
constitute sarcoplasmic protein, whereas,
myofibrillar proteins comprise of actin, myosin,
tropomyosin, troponin, α, β and γ –actin, C-
proteins, M-proteins etc.
• Major connective tissue proteins are collagen,
elastin and reticulin.
• Proteins are made up of amino acid chain and 20
amino acids are very common.
• Humans can not synthesize amino group which
forms amino acid.
• Therefore proteins must be provided in the diet of
they can synthesize their own amino acids.
• Meat proteins are rich source of essential amino
acids viz, phenylalanine, valine, tryptophan,
threonine, methionine, leucine, isoleucine and lysine
which are very much essential for human.
Essential amino acid as % of CP in
fresh meat
 Meat fats
• Meat fats contain ample amounts of essential fatty
acids and the nutritional demands of the body are
easily met by intramuscular fat itself.
• The caloric value of fat in meat is attributed to
fatty acids in triglycerides.
• The number of calories from lean meat is
frequently less than those derived from equal
weights of many other foods.
• In fact, the caloric value of a particular meat
depends on the amount of fat in the meat cuts.
• The most abundant fatty acid in meat fat is oleic
acid (unsaturated fatty acid) followed by palmitic
and stearic acids (saturated fatty acids).
• Essential fatty acids in human diets are linoleic,
linolenic and arachidonic acids. Pork and organ
meats are relatively food sources of linoleic and
linolenic acids.
• Excess dietary linoleic acid is converted to
arachidonic acid in the human body to meet the
demand.
• Phospholipids are essential components of the cell
wall as well as mitochondria and play a vital role
in cellular metabolism.
• Meat fat always contains some quantity of
cholesterol and blood cholesterol level increases
after ingestion of cholesterol in food.
• Organ meats have remarkably high cholesterol
content as compared to skeletal meat.
• Fatty acid in meat fat: oleic acid > palmitic acid >
stearic acid.
• EFA in human diets are linoleic, linolenic, and
arachidonic acids.
• Pork and organ meats are relatively good sources
of linoleic and linolenic acids.
• Excess dietary linoleic acid is converted to
arachidonic acid in human body to meet its
demand.
• Meat fat always contains some quantity of
cholesterol
• Organ meats have remarkable high cholesterol
content as compared to skeletal meat.
Fatty acid as % of total meat fat
 Minerals
• Meat is a good source of all minerals except
calcium.
• mainly in liver, it has to be a part of regular
dietary intake.
• Meat provides this important mineral in a form
that is easily absorbed in the system.
• Potassium is most abundant followed by
phosphorus.
• Meat is a good source of iron, which is required for
the synthesis of hemoglobin, myoglobin, etc.
• Since human body has a very limited capacity to
store iron,
 Vitamins
• Lean meat is an excellent source of B-complex
group of vitamins.
• Fat-soluble vitamin found in meat is associated
with body fat.
• Vitamin C is almost absent in lean meat, although
certain organs contain it in minor quantities.
• Among the B-complex group of vitamins thiamine,
riboflavin and niacin are present in high
concentrations .
• Lean pork has 5-10 times more thiamine than
other meats.
• Several organ meats have slightly less protein and
fat than skeletal meats.
• However, these are quite often more economical
sources of protein and vitamins than retail cuts of
skeletal meats.
• Liver is a rich source of iron, riboflavin, niacin and
vitamin.
Mineral and vitamin content of raw
meat (mg/100 g meat)