Improving the Sensory and Nutritional Quality of Fresh Meat covers the mechanisms underlying quality characteristics and methods to improve meat sensory and nutritional quality.

Features:

• reviews methods to improve meat sensory and nutritional quality considering the effects of different production practices such as chilling, freezing and packaging
• analyses the scientific basis of meat quality attributes covering texture, tenderness, colour and water-holding capacity
• examines production and processing strategies to optimise meat quality, including the current state of development and future potential

Part One analyzes the scientific basis of meat quality attributes, such as texture and tenderness, colour, water-holding capacity and flavour development. Chapters on the nutritional quality of meat and meat sensory evaluation complete the section.

Part Two discusses significant insights into the biology of meat quality obtained from genomic and proteomic perspectives, with chapters focussing on different types of meat.

Part Three and Part Four review production and processing strategies to optimize meat quality, considering aspects such as production practices and meat nutritional quality, dietary antioxidants and antimicrobials, carcass interventions, chilling and freezing and packaging. Methods of meat grading and quality analysis are also included.

Contents

Part 1: Understanding Meat Quality

Trends in meat consumption and the need for fresh meat and meat products of improved quality

• Eating meat for pleasure
• Eating meat for nutrition
• Variability in meat and meat products

Biology and regulation of carcass composition

• Patterns of growth of carcass tissues
• Biology of carcass tissue development and growth
• Consequences of prenatal and postnatal growth and development for carcass composition and meat quality
• Influences of metabolic modifiers on carcass characteristics
• Genotypic influences on carcass composition. Future perspectives

Fresh meat texture and tenderness

• Muscle constituents and structure contributing to tenderness variation
• Antemortem factors affecting meat tenderness
• Postmortem technologies affecting meat tenderness
• Laboratory tenderness assessments
• On-line tenderness prediction

Meat color

• Myoglobin chemistry
• Antemortem factors affecting meat color
• Laboratory analysis of meat color
• Postmortem factors affecting meat color
• Product enhancement
• New developments and new areas of research. Future directions

Flavour development in meat

• Flavour formation in meat
• Dietary effects on meat flavour
• Other pre-slaughter factors affecting meat flavour
• Postslaughter factors affecting meat flavour
• Off-flavours in meat
• Laboratory analysis of meat aroma compounds

Fresh meat water-holding capacity

• Water-holding capacity defined
• Inherent factors in postmortem muscle that influence water-holding capacity
• Ante and early postmortem factors that influence water-holding capacity

The nutritional quality of meat

• Macronutrients in meat
• Meat micronutrients
• Laboratory analysis of the nutritional quality of meat

Sensory evaluation of fresh meat

• Sensory evaluation of meat colour
• Sensory evaluation of meat flavour
• Sensory assessment of meat tenderness

Part 2: Improving the Quality of Fresh Meat: Genetic and Genomic Technologies

New insights into the biology of meat quality from genomic and proteomic perspectives with particular emphasis on beef

• Genetic markers
• Functional genomics
• Proteomics

Genetic and genomic approaches to improving pork quality

• The importance of genetic and genomic approaches in improving pork quality
• Progress with identifying genes responsible for meat quality traits in pigs
• Functional genomics and improving pork quality
• Proteomics and improving pork quality
• Quantitative trait loci analysis and improving pork quality

Genetic and genomic approaches to improving sheep meat quality

• Genetic variation in sheep meat quality
• Genes impacting on meat quality
• Quantitative trait loci approaches to improving meat quality
• The contribution of functional genomics

Use of meat quality information in breeding programmes

• Issues affecting the inclusion of meat quality information in breeding programmes
• Breeding programme design to include meat quality (MQ) goals
• Techniques for measuring meat quality

Genetic based diagnostic tools for predicting meat quality

• The need for better methods to predict meat quality
• Developing genetic-based diagnostic tests for predicting meat quality
• Current status of development and future potential

Part 3: Improving the Quality of Fresh Meat: Production Strategies

Optimizing the nutritional profile of beef

• The potential to improve the nutritional profile of beef
• Optimising the nutritional profile of beef
• Optimising the quantity of vitamins and micronutrients in beef

Optimizing the nutritional and sensorial profile of pork

• Pork composition. The sensorial qualities of pork
• Effects of breeding factors on meat sensorial and nutritional qualities
• Orientation of pig production

Using antioxidants and nutraceuticals as dietary supplements to improve the quality and shelf-life of fresh meat

• Factors affecting fresh meat quality and shelf-life: appearance (colour), lipid oxidation and microbiology
• Chemistry and structure of vitamin E. Chemistry and structure of green tea catechins
• Chemistry and structure of grape seed extract and bearberry compounds
• Chemistry and structure of oregano and rosemary compounds

Organic meat quality

• The quality of organic meats as compared to conventional products
• Safety and healthiness of organic meat

Improving the quality of meat from ratites

• Ratite meat industries
• Body and carcass quality traits
• Influences on composition and quality development
• Raw chilled ratite meat characteristics
• Value added products from ostrich meat

Improving the meat quality of venison and other exotic game

• Improving meat quality by means of production system
• Transport, lairage and slaughtering techniques
• Post mortem intervention to improve the meat quality
• Improving or maintaining the meat quality post mortem
• Value added products as a means to improve the quality attributes of exotic meats

Part 4: Improving the Quality of Fresh Meat: Processing Strategies

Automated grading of beef carcasses

• The purpose of carcass grading
• Carcass grading based on visual assessment
• Development and application of automated methods: vide image analysis (VIA)

Determining the lean content of pork carcasses

• Determination of carcass lean yield
• The on-line determination of carcass composition and lean yield
• Current technologies available to accurately determine carcass composition and lean yield
• The limits of current technologies for estimating carcass composition and carcass value

New methods for analysis of factors affecting meat eating quality

• Meat industry needs for on-line spectroscopic analysis
• Selected on-line spectroscopic techniques for meat
• Problems and pit-falls in on-line spectroscopic analysis

Chilling and freezing of meat and its effect on meat quality

• The effect of chilling and freezing on meat tenderness and texture
• The effect of chilling and freezing on drip production. The effect of chilling and freezing on meat colour and appearance

Carcass interventions and meat tenderness

• Whole-carcass interventions to improve tenderness
• Ageing of meat to improve tenderness
• Novel technologies to improve tenderness
• Processing techniques to improve tenderness of individual muscles/cuts

Sensory and quality properties of packaged meat

• Packaged meat
• Colour changes and packaged meat
• Lipid oxidation and packaged meat
• Catalysis of lipid oxidation
• Tenderness and packaged meat

Characterizing muscle properties to develop muscle-specific intervention strategies and improve meat cuts for the consumer

• Overview of U.S. beef muscle profiling projects. Methods. Optimization

Animal welfare and meat quality

• Definition of animal welfare
• Meat quality traits. Impact of housing and management on meat quality
• Impact of transport and lairage on meat quality
• Impact of stunning on animals and meat condition
• A risk assessment approach for animal welfare and meat quality in slaughter animals

Index

Click here to see books of related interest.