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Meat and Meat Products
Journal of Integrative Agriculture
2013, 12(11): 1916-1918
November 2013
Editoral
MEAT AND MEAT PRODUCTS In recent years, meat quality has assumed a greater consumer significance and public attention. There is growing awareness of the link between diet and health and this is reflected in the demand for more information and products which are healthy and of consistently high quality. As a consequence, this fact has led to the demand for meat with a high lean content. On the other hand, as animals, and especially pigs and poultry, have become leaner, more complaints have been received that the eating quality of the meat has declined, due to dryness, toughness and lack of taste and flavour. Other concerns are about food safety and hygiene, especially the presence of microorganisms and residues, as well as the welfare and husbandry conditions under which animals are kept. Thus, both the diets fed to the animals and the systems of animal production are being increasingly questioned. The quality of raw meat can be defined as the suitability of meat for use in a specified product. The attributes of meat that determine the quality thus depend on the use for which the meat is intended. Quality can be defined as technological quality, describing meat for further processing like salting, curing, etc., or as fresh meat eating quality that describes meat for fresh meat consumption, and which includes all traits registered with our senses, both appearance, flavour and texture. In the processing of meat, the yield is the main quality parameter as it determines the amount of available product for sale and is therefore of direct economic importance. The sensory quality of the processed product has an indirect economic importance as it might influence the amount of sold product, especially how often a consumer buys the same product again. Quality indicators in the raw meat that can predict the yield of the processed meat are especially pH and water-holding capacity, whereas the sensory quality of the processed meat can also be influenced by the colour, the lean/fat distribution and the fat quality in the raw meat. The future demands on raw meat quality reflect the use of the meat. Two key words exist: ‘uniformity’
and ‘variety’. A future trend is the demand for a large amount of meat with a uniform raw meat quality for further processing. This makes it important that the raw meat quality can be predicted or determined early - if possible before the chilling begins. Another future trend is the demand for a greater variety in smaller amounts especially for the fresh meat consumption market. To this regards, it is important that the raw meat quality can be controlled in order to design a specific quality. As guest editor, I am pleased to see that 10 of the manuscripts were accepted by the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Integrative Agriculture for publication in this special focus. The 10 papers are organized into the following two sections.
Section 1: Animal welfare and meat quality In recent years, increasing amount of evidence supports the idea that acute animal stress can play an important role in meat quality development. It has been proposed that increased levels of stress hormones into the muscle could lead to several post mortem metabolic/structural modifications that could be reflected on the final quality of meat. To this regards, Pighin et al. (2013) demonstrated that stress hormones injected to live animals during the peri mortem period were able to affect the post mortem muscle biochemistry and the pH/T decline curve independently of final muscle pH. These findings support the idea that increased levels of stress hormones previous to slaughter would be more important than previously thought. On the other hand, the use of phytoadditives or active plant components, such as tannins, in rabbit husbandry can be an acceptable way to improve welfare, health and meat quality of animals. To this regard, Rotolo et al. (2013) concluded that oregano and sage in form of dried leaves can be used in rabbit rearing without reporting adverse effects on performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality traits Regarding meat quality, Campo et al. (2013) noticed that lamb meat quality could be related with tech-
© 2013, CAAS. All rights reserved. Published by Elsevier Ltd. doi: 10.1016/S2095-3119(13)60642-5
nological aspects, chemical composition and consumer acceptability. To this regards, lamb meat provides excellent nutritional value, low-fat and high protein content (Paseto Fernandes et al. 2013). In addition, the vacuum packaged lamb stored under freezing, remained stable at least 12 mon stored at -18°C with respect to most physical and chemical indices evaluated and within the microbiological standards established by Brazilian legislation throughout the storage period. On the other hand, Díaz et al. (2013) displayed that finishing diet did not affect to chemical composition, pH, water holding capacity, drip and cooking losses and texture of meat from capons. Finally, Teixeira et al. (2013) observed differences between local breed (Portuguese black pork called Preto Alentejano) and a commercial breed, since fatty acid composition, particularly the monosaturated (C18:1 and C16:1) could be important variables to discriminate pork meat from Preto Alentejano breed from the other commercial pork meats and used in authentication meat products analysis.
Section 2: Meat products The oxidative deterioration of lipids and proteins is a major concern for food technologists due to the loss of the quality and shelf-life in the processed meat products. Lipid oxidation affects the nutritional and sensory properties of muscle foods since it involves the loss of essential fatty acids and vitamins, the generation of toxic compounds such as the malondialdehyde, and the deterioration of flavour, texture and color. Thus, the combination of fruit extracts together with the additives typically employed in the meat industry (sodium ascorbate and sodium nitrite) is a successful strategy to enhance the oxidative stability of frankfurters without modifying their color and texture properties (Armenteros et al. 2013). In addition, Ganhão et al. (2013) observed that the addition of Arbutus unedo, Crataegus monogyna, Rosa canina and Rubus ulmifolius in porcine burger patties protects PUFA from oxidative degradation and inhibits the formation of TBA-RS and volatiles compounds. Hence, using these fruit extracts as ingredients in burger patties may be an efficient strategy to enhance the nutritional value, safety and sensory traits of these meat products.
Proteolysis and lipolysis are two of the most important mechanisms that have an impact on final sensory quality of dry-cured meat products. To this regards, lipolysis plays an important role in the development of sensory characteristics, because it causes an increase in free fatty acid content, and it also catalyses other reactions such as oxidation, which leads to the production of a large number of volatile compounds that are responsible for the characteristic flavour of dry-cured meat products. Wang et al. (2013) found that salting process showed a remarkable influence on IMF fractions, composition, lipid oxidation and lipase activity of dry-cured ham. Among the factors affecting the volatile compounds profile, Lorenzo et al. (2013) observed that the inclusion of chestnut in the final stage of fattening changed the volatile compounds profile of hams from Celta pig breed. To this regards, the use of chestnut in the finishing diet of pigs led to ham samples with a higher content of alcohols. José M Lorenzo Guest Editor Centro Tecnológico de la Carne de Galicia 32900 Ourense, Spain
References Armenteros M, Morcuende D, Ventanas S, Estévez M. 2013. Application of natural antioxidants from strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.) and dog rose (Rosa canina L.) to frankfurters subjected to refrigerated storage. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 12, 1972-1981. Díaz O, Rodríguez L, Torres A, Cobos A. 2013. Composition and physico-chemical properties of meat from capons fed cereals. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 12, 19531960. Ganhão R, Estévez M, Armenteros M, Morcuende D. Mediterranean berries as inhibitors of lipid oxidation in porcine burger patties subjected to cooking and chilled storage. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 12, 19821992. Lorenzo J M, Carballo J, Franco D. 2013. Effect of the inclusion of chestnut in the finishing diet on volatile compounds of dry-cured ham from Celta pig breed. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 12, 2002-2012. Paseto Fernandes R P, Alvarenga Freire M T, da Costa Carrer C, Trindade M A. 2013. Evaluation of physicochemical, microbiological and sensory stability of frozen stored vacuum-packed lamb meat. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 12, 1946-1952. Pighin D G, Cunzolo S A, Zimerman M, Pazos A A, Domingo
© 2013, CAAS. All rights reserved. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
E, Pordomingo A J, Grigioni G. 2013. Impact of induced acute stress on meat quality development. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 12, 1931-1936. Rotolo L, Gai F, Nicola S, Zoccarato I, Brugiapaglia A, Gasco L. 2013. Dietary supplementation of oregano and sage dried leaves on performances and meat quality of rabbits. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 12, 1937-1945. Sañudo C, Muela E, Campo M M. 2013. Key factors involved in lamb quality from farm to fork in Europe. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 12, 1919-1930.
Teixeira A, Rodrigues S. 2013. Pork meat quality of Preto Alentejano and commercial Large White landrace cross. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 12, 1961-1971. Wang Z Y, Gao X G, Zhang J H, Zhang D Q, Ma C W. 2013. Changes of intramuscular fat composition, lipid oxidation and lipase activity in biceps femoris and semimembranosus of Xuanwei ham during controlled salting stages. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 12, 1993-2001.
© 2013, CAAS. All rights reserved. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
2013, 12(11): 1916-1918
November 2013
Editoral
MEAT AND MEAT PRODUCTS In recent years, meat quality has assumed a greater consumer significance and public attention. There is growing awareness of the link between diet and health and this is reflected in the demand for more information and products which are healthy and of consistently high quality. As a consequence, this fact has led to the demand for meat with a high lean content. On the other hand, as animals, and especially pigs and poultry, have become leaner, more complaints have been received that the eating quality of the meat has declined, due to dryness, toughness and lack of taste and flavour. Other concerns are about food safety and hygiene, especially the presence of microorganisms and residues, as well as the welfare and husbandry conditions under which animals are kept. Thus, both the diets fed to the animals and the systems of animal production are being increasingly questioned. The quality of raw meat can be defined as the suitability of meat for use in a specified product. The attributes of meat that determine the quality thus depend on the use for which the meat is intended. Quality can be defined as technological quality, describing meat for further processing like salting, curing, etc., or as fresh meat eating quality that describes meat for fresh meat consumption, and which includes all traits registered with our senses, both appearance, flavour and texture. In the processing of meat, the yield is the main quality parameter as it determines the amount of available product for sale and is therefore of direct economic importance. The sensory quality of the processed product has an indirect economic importance as it might influence the amount of sold product, especially how often a consumer buys the same product again. Quality indicators in the raw meat that can predict the yield of the processed meat are especially pH and water-holding capacity, whereas the sensory quality of the processed meat can also be influenced by the colour, the lean/fat distribution and the fat quality in the raw meat. The future demands on raw meat quality reflect the use of the meat. Two key words exist: ‘uniformity’
and ‘variety’. A future trend is the demand for a large amount of meat with a uniform raw meat quality for further processing. This makes it important that the raw meat quality can be predicted or determined early - if possible before the chilling begins. Another future trend is the demand for a greater variety in smaller amounts especially for the fresh meat consumption market. To this regards, it is important that the raw meat quality can be controlled in order to design a specific quality. As guest editor, I am pleased to see that 10 of the manuscripts were accepted by the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Integrative Agriculture for publication in this special focus. The 10 papers are organized into the following two sections.
Section 1: Animal welfare and meat quality In recent years, increasing amount of evidence supports the idea that acute animal stress can play an important role in meat quality development. It has been proposed that increased levels of stress hormones into the muscle could lead to several post mortem metabolic/structural modifications that could be reflected on the final quality of meat. To this regards, Pighin et al. (2013) demonstrated that stress hormones injected to live animals during the peri mortem period were able to affect the post mortem muscle biochemistry and the pH/T decline curve independently of final muscle pH. These findings support the idea that increased levels of stress hormones previous to slaughter would be more important than previously thought. On the other hand, the use of phytoadditives or active plant components, such as tannins, in rabbit husbandry can be an acceptable way to improve welfare, health and meat quality of animals. To this regard, Rotolo et al. (2013) concluded that oregano and sage in form of dried leaves can be used in rabbit rearing without reporting adverse effects on performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality traits Regarding meat quality, Campo et al. (2013) noticed that lamb meat quality could be related with tech-
© 2013, CAAS. All rights reserved. Published by Elsevier Ltd. doi: 10.1016/S2095-3119(13)60642-5
nological aspects, chemical composition and consumer acceptability. To this regards, lamb meat provides excellent nutritional value, low-fat and high protein content (Paseto Fernandes et al. 2013). In addition, the vacuum packaged lamb stored under freezing, remained stable at least 12 mon stored at -18°C with respect to most physical and chemical indices evaluated and within the microbiological standards established by Brazilian legislation throughout the storage period. On the other hand, Díaz et al. (2013) displayed that finishing diet did not affect to chemical composition, pH, water holding capacity, drip and cooking losses and texture of meat from capons. Finally, Teixeira et al. (2013) observed differences between local breed (Portuguese black pork called Preto Alentejano) and a commercial breed, since fatty acid composition, particularly the monosaturated (C18:1 and C16:1) could be important variables to discriminate pork meat from Preto Alentejano breed from the other commercial pork meats and used in authentication meat products analysis.
Section 2: Meat products The oxidative deterioration of lipids and proteins is a major concern for food technologists due to the loss of the quality and shelf-life in the processed meat products. Lipid oxidation affects the nutritional and sensory properties of muscle foods since it involves the loss of essential fatty acids and vitamins, the generation of toxic compounds such as the malondialdehyde, and the deterioration of flavour, texture and color. Thus, the combination of fruit extracts together with the additives typically employed in the meat industry (sodium ascorbate and sodium nitrite) is a successful strategy to enhance the oxidative stability of frankfurters without modifying their color and texture properties (Armenteros et al. 2013). In addition, Ganhão et al. (2013) observed that the addition of Arbutus unedo, Crataegus monogyna, Rosa canina and Rubus ulmifolius in porcine burger patties protects PUFA from oxidative degradation and inhibits the formation of TBA-RS and volatiles compounds. Hence, using these fruit extracts as ingredients in burger patties may be an efficient strategy to enhance the nutritional value, safety and sensory traits of these meat products.
Proteolysis and lipolysis are two of the most important mechanisms that have an impact on final sensory quality of dry-cured meat products. To this regards, lipolysis plays an important role in the development of sensory characteristics, because it causes an increase in free fatty acid content, and it also catalyses other reactions such as oxidation, which leads to the production of a large number of volatile compounds that are responsible for the characteristic flavour of dry-cured meat products. Wang et al. (2013) found that salting process showed a remarkable influence on IMF fractions, composition, lipid oxidation and lipase activity of dry-cured ham. Among the factors affecting the volatile compounds profile, Lorenzo et al. (2013) observed that the inclusion of chestnut in the final stage of fattening changed the volatile compounds profile of hams from Celta pig breed. To this regards, the use of chestnut in the finishing diet of pigs led to ham samples with a higher content of alcohols. José M Lorenzo Guest Editor Centro Tecnológico de la Carne de Galicia 32900 Ourense, Spain
References Armenteros M, Morcuende D, Ventanas S, Estévez M. 2013. Application of natural antioxidants from strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.) and dog rose (Rosa canina L.) to frankfurters subjected to refrigerated storage. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 12, 1972-1981. Díaz O, Rodríguez L, Torres A, Cobos A. 2013. Composition and physico-chemical properties of meat from capons fed cereals. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 12, 19531960. Ganhão R, Estévez M, Armenteros M, Morcuende D. Mediterranean berries as inhibitors of lipid oxidation in porcine burger patties subjected to cooking and chilled storage. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 12, 19821992. Lorenzo J M, Carballo J, Franco D. 2013. Effect of the inclusion of chestnut in the finishing diet on volatile compounds of dry-cured ham from Celta pig breed. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 12, 2002-2012. Paseto Fernandes R P, Alvarenga Freire M T, da Costa Carrer C, Trindade M A. 2013. Evaluation of physicochemical, microbiological and sensory stability of frozen stored vacuum-packed lamb meat. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 12, 1946-1952. Pighin D G, Cunzolo S A, Zimerman M, Pazos A A, Domingo
© 2013, CAAS. All rights reserved. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
E, Pordomingo A J, Grigioni G. 2013. Impact of induced acute stress on meat quality development. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 12, 1931-1936. Rotolo L, Gai F, Nicola S, Zoccarato I, Brugiapaglia A, Gasco L. 2013. Dietary supplementation of oregano and sage dried leaves on performances and meat quality of rabbits. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 12, 1937-1945. Sañudo C, Muela E, Campo M M. 2013. Key factors involved in lamb quality from farm to fork in Europe. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 12, 1919-1930.
Teixeira A, Rodrigues S. 2013. Pork meat quality of Preto Alentejano and commercial Large White landrace cross. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 12, 1961-1971. Wang Z Y, Gao X G, Zhang J H, Zhang D Q, Ma C W. 2013. Changes of intramuscular fat composition, lipid oxidation and lipase activity in biceps femoris and semimembranosus of Xuanwei ham during controlled salting stages. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 12, 1993-2001.
© 2013, CAAS. All rights reserved. Published by Elsevier Ltd.