MEAT COLOUR ,FLAVOUR AND

MEAT MICROBIOLOGY
• Fresh meat can be referred as a product which has
undergone imminent postmortem changes
following slaughter but has not been subjected to
any processing.
• However, fresh meat which has undergone
freezing can be conveniently termed as raw meat.
• Some characteristics of fresh and raw meat need
to be properly understood in order to achieve the
best results in processing.
 Meat Colour
• This is the total visual perception of meat.
• The hue (primary colour), chroma (intensity) and the
value (brightness) of meat colour are based on the
quantity of principal muscle pigment—myoglobin and
its chemical state.
• It is for this reason that meat colour varies with
species, sex, age and even among different muscles of
the same species.
• Myoglobin content of more active species and muscles
is higher than the passive ones.
• Typical colour of meat from various species is:

Mutton and chevon : Light to dark red

Pork : Greyish pink
Poultry : Grey white to dull red
Buffalo meat and beef : Cherry red
• Myoglobin constitutes about 80-90% of the total meat pigments.
• The role of haemoglobin in meat colour is negligible in a properly
bled muscle.
• Catalase and cytochrome enzymes are of little consequence as
far as meat colour is concerned.
• Myoglobin molecule has a protein portion (globin) and a heme
(iron containing) ring.
• It is one-fourth in size as compared to structurally similar
haemoglobin molecule.
• In intact meat, iron in the heme ring of myoglobin exists in the
reduced form.
• Upon cutting, grinding or exposure to air, myoglobin is
oxygenated to form oxymyoglobin within 30-45 minutes.
• Oxymyoglobin has a bright red colour (bloom) which is very much
desired by the consumers.
• However, this pigment is comparatively unstable.
• In conditions of less oxygen, partial vacuum or semipermeable
package, myoglobin as well as oxymyoglobin is oxidized to brown
coloured metmyoglobin
• At the time of meat purchase, brown colour is usually associated,
by the consumers with meat that has been stored for long
although it is not always true.
• In order to prevent the formation of brown colour, fresh meat is
often packed in films with very good gas (oxygen) transmission
rate
 Palatability Characters of Meat
• 3 major palatability attributes are :
 Juiciness
 Flavour
Tenderness
• 1. Juiciness:
 Difference in juiciness in meat may be
attributed to amount of bound/Intermediate
Moisture & intramuscular fat concentration.
Major factors responsibe for Juiciness
 Water holding capacity
 Intra muscular lipid
• 2. Meat flavor
Associated with 2 factors

Water soluble Myofibrillar proteins

 Associated with typical meat flavor (Metallic
serumy
• Tenderness depends on contractile state of
muscle and amount of connective
tissue.Tenderness also depends on ante
mortem and postmortem factors and is found
to be heritable (45%)
MEAT MICROBIOLOGY
• Meat is an ideal culture medium for many organisms.
• It is because of the various intrinsic factors like high
moisture of around 75%,rich in nitrogenous
compounds of sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar proteins
and being supplied with minerals and accessory
growth factors.
• It usually contains some fermentable carbohydrates at
a favourable pH for most microorganisms.
• The inner flesh of meat is generally sterile or only a few
numbers of microorganisms can survive there.
• They are found in bone marrow, lymph etc.
• Normal slaughtering removes the lymph nodes from
edible parts.
• Majority of the spoilage microorganisms are contaminants, coming from
external sources during unhygienic and improper bleeding, handling and
processing.
• The exterior surface of the animals normally harbours large numbers and
many kind of microorganisms from soil, water feed, and manure, as well as
natural surface flora, and the intestinal contents contain the intestinal
organisms.
• Knives, cloths, air, other handling equipment, and hands of workers can
serve as intermediate sources of contaminants.
• During handling of the meat and thereafter, contamination can come from
carts, boxes, or other containers; other contaminated meat; air; and
personnel.
• Because of the varied sources, the kinds of microorganisms likely to
contaminate meats are many.
• Moulds of many genera may reach the surface of meats and grow
there. The important species are genera:
• 1. Cladosporium,
• 2.Sporotrichum,
• 3.Geotrichum,
• 4.Thamnidium,
• 5.Mucor,
• 6.Penicillium,
• 7.Alternaria,
• 8.Monilia.
• Yeasts, mostly asporogenous ones, often are present.
• Bacteria of many genera are found, among which some of
the more important are Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter,
Moraxella, Alcaligens, Micrococcus, Streptococcus,
Sarcina, Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus, Proteus,
Flavobacterium, Bacillus, Clostridium, Escherichia,
Campylobacter, Salmonella, and Streptomyces.
•  Many of these bacteria can grow at chilling temperatures.
There also is a possibility of the contamination of meat and
meat products with human pathogens, especially those of
the intestinal type. Further contamination can take place
due to unhygienic handling in retail market and in home
Spoilage Of Meat under Aerobic condition :

• Surface slime: caused by species

of Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Alcaligens,
Micrococcus, Streptococcus,
Leuconostoc, and Bacillus. 
• The spoilage microflora forms a thin film on
meat, which enables them to obtain
nourishment from the substrate.
• Changes in colour of meat pigments :  The red
colour of meat, called its “bloom,” may be
changed to shades of green, brown, or grey. It
is due to the production of oxidizing
compounds like peroxides, or hydrogen
sulfide, by bacteria. Species
of Lactobacillus (mostly heterofermentative)
and Leuconostoc are reported to cause the
greening of sausage.
• Changes in fats : Lipolytic bacteria
like Pseudomonas and Achromobacter and
yeasts may cause some lipolysis and also
accelerate the oxidation of the fats.
• Surface discoloration : The “red spot” may be
caused bySerratia marcescent. Pseudomonas
syncyanea can impart a blue colour to the surface.
Yellow discolorations are caused by species
of Micrococcus or Flavobacterium, Chromobacteriu
m lividum.
• Off odours and off tastes – “Taints and souring or
undesirable odours and tastes, in meat are the
result of the growth of bacteria on the surface.
 Aerobic growth of moulds may cause the following :

• Stickiness – Incipient growth of moulds makes the surface of the

meat sticky to the touch.
• Whiskers – When meat is stored at temperatures near freezing, a
limited amount of mycelial growth may take place without
sporulation, It is caused by Thamnidium chaetocladioides, or T.
elegans; Mucor mucedo, M. lusitanicus, or M. racemosus; Rhizopus.
• Black spot is usually is caused by Cladosporium herbarum and white
spot by Sporotrichum carnis moulds like Geotrichum. Green patches
are caused by Penicillium expansum, Penicillium
asperulum, and Penicillium oxalicum.
• Moulds also cause oxidation of fats and give off odour and off taste.
Spoilage OF meat under Anaerobic Conditions :

• Souring : The term implies a sour odour and perhaps taste. This
could be caused by formic, acetic, butyric, propionic, and higher
fatty acids or other organic acids such as lactic or succinic acid.
There is gas formation accompanying the action of the
“butyric” Clostridium species and the coliform bacteria on
carbohydrates.
• Putrefaction : True putrefaction is the anaerobic decomposition
of protein with the production of foul-smelling compounds
such as hydrogen sulfide, mercaptans, indole, skatole,
ammonia, and amines. It is usually caused by species of
Clostridium, but can also by Pseudomonas, Proteus,
and Alcaligenes.