Meat Science & Hygiene Flashcards
What countries are responsible for most of the meat production in the world?
USA - beef
CHINA - poultry and pork
What are the 3 major components of protein in meat?
- stromal - connective tissue support
- sarcoplastic - aerobic and anaerobic metabolic enzymes, myoglobins
- myofiber - contractile myosin and actin
What role do stromal protein and myosin have in meat?
STROMAL = toughness vs. tenderness
MYOSIN = juiciness, flavor, water-holding capacity
What beneficial roles do lipids have in meat? Harmful roles?
BENEFICIAL - tenderness, juiciness, flavor
HARMFUL - rancid taste, impaired water-holding capacity
What results with low levels of intramuscular fat?
- dry meat with low taste
- marbled meat preferred
What are the 3 major components of carbohydrates in meat?
- ATP
- creatinine phosphate
- glycogen
What does ash contribute to meat? What ions are involved in living and postmortem muscle contraction?
iron heme (readily absorbed, makes up 40-60% of total iron)
- LIVING = calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium
- POSTMORTEM = calcium, magnesium
What are the 2 major components of skeletal muscle?
10% connective/fat tissue; 90% muscle cells/fibers
What are the 3 layers of connective tissue in skeletal muscle?
- ENDOMYSIUM - surrounds each muscle fiber
- PERIMYSIUM - surround bundles of muscle fibers
- EPIMYSIUM - surrounds whole muscle and acts as an extension of tendon
What makes up most of the intracellular volume of muscle cells/fibers? What is the contractile unit?
myofibrils
sarcomere
What is the general structure of muscle cells?
- multinucleated
- spindle-shaped
- elongated cells from a few mm to several cm
Muscle cell:
How does muscle contract?
action potential from motor nerves cause contraction allowing actin to use ATP, calcium, and magnesium to slide over myosin filaments and then relax upon depletion of energy
- ATP is required for contracting and relaxation
What organelle is responsible for the conversion of muscle to meat?
lysosome
What is a high number of mitochondria in meet associated with?
higher concentration of myoglobin, making the meat dark red
What serves as an indicator of quality meat for grading? Depletion of what polysaccharide is important to meat quality?
lipid droplets
glycogen