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Chemical Composition of Meat and Meat Products

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Handbook of Food Chemistry

Abstract

Meat is the flesh of certain animal species that is used as food by humans and includes many tissues and edible parts although the main tissue is the muscle. This chapter describes the muscle composition and the conversion of muscle into meat, the meat components (nitrogen compounds and enzymes, lipids, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and water), their influence in meat quality, and the factors that affect meat composition. Mechanically recovered meat composition is also outlined, due to it is a raw material used in meat product manufacture. The effects of curing and the chemical characteristics of the different varieties of meat products are also detailed, including enhanced meat, comminuted and reformed fresh meat products, cooked-cured meat products (emulsion-based and products from whole pieces), dry fermented sausages, dry-cured meat products, frozen meat and meat products, dried meats, and meat extracts. Finally, chemical aspects of the most recent type of meat products developed, healthier and functional meat products, have also been included (low-sodium, low-fat and lipid-modified and nitrite-reduced meat products, meat and meat products with bioactive compounds).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition and Food Science, Food Technology Division, Faculty of Sciences, University of Santiago de Compostela, Lugo Campus, 27002, Lugo, Spain

    Ángel Cobos & Olga Díaz

Authors
  1. Ángel Cobos
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  2. Olga Díaz
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Correspondence to Ángel Cobos .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Peter Chi Keung Cheung

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Cobos, Á., Díaz, O. (2014). Chemical Composition of Meat and Meat Products. In: Cheung, P. (eds) Handbook of Food Chemistry. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41609-5_6-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41609-5_6-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-41609-5

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