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Unit

Food Science

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Problem Area

Processing Animal Products

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Student Learning Objectives

1. Describe the importance of water to the

characteristics of meat products.

2. Explain how postmortem changes affectwater loss in meat and identify techniques

applied directly afterslaughter forreducing

water loss in meat.

3. Explain the effects of non-meat additives onthe water-binding ability of meat.

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Terms

Actin

Calcium phosphate

Lactic acid

Myosin

pH

Postmortem

Rigormortis

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What is the importance of water to the

characteristics of meat products?

Watercontributes to many of the characteristics

of meat pr

oducts.A. Approximately 65% of the weight of fresh

meat is from waterwhich is directly related to the

protein content of meat. There is a constant

relationship of about 3.7 to 1 between waterandprotein content in fresh meat.

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B. In all living animals, water contributes to

cellular integrity, meaning it provides the internalpressure to keep cells from collapsing on

themselves.Wateralso provides lubrication for

muscle fibers, allowing smooth contraction and

release of muscle tissue.

C. Protein binds with water in the cell because of

a polarattraction between waterand protein

molecules.When an animal is slaughtered, theability of the muscle to retain water is reduced.

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How do postmortem changes affect water loss in meat

and what techniques are applied directly afterslaughterforreducing water loss in meat?

Postmortem changes will affect water loss in

fresh meat. Several techniques are applied after

slaughter

toreduce wate

rloss.

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A. Postmortem is a term used to describe the state of

the animal after it has been slaughtered. Once an animal

has been slaughtered, rigor mortis, or the stiffening of

body joints due to contraction of the muscle tissue,

begins aftera few hours. Rigormortis occurs in a dead

body because of the bodys inability to keep calcium ions

out of the muscle cells. Calcium ions promote the linking ofactin and myosin,

two types of muscle fibers, which begin to contract and

are unable to release. The muscles will stay contracted

until the muscle tissue begins to decompose,

approximately 72 hours afterdeath. Refrigeration and

rapid cooling can delay the onset ofrigormortis, but the

process will occurupon the thawing of the carcass. Meat

is generally considered to be more tender if prepared

afterrigormortis has passed.

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What effects do non-meat additives have on the water-binding

ability of meat?

A. The loss of water from the muscle afterslaughter can be

reduced by slowing down the production of lactic acid. Lactic

acid production can be reduced by decreasing the

temperature of the carcass and by using an additive to inhibit

water loss.

Salt and calcium phosphate are two common substances

that are used as meat additives which promote water

retention. Both of these cations (substances with a negative

char

ge) incr

ease the water

-holding capacity of meat byneutralizing positively-charged ions that compete with water

molecules forprotein attachment. By neutralizing the

competing ions, the water is allowed to bind with protein

molecules, resulting in waterretention and decreased water

loss.

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