What is meat made of?
Meat is composed of protein, fat, connective tissue, and exudate (its natural "juice"). Interestingly, on average, its muscle mass may account for 35 to 60 percent of the animal's total body weight.
Chemical composition of meat
Animal muscle tissue includes water, amino acids, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins and meat, but the edible part is mainly its muscle tissue. Meat muscles are made of fibers tied together with connective tissue. Muscle fibers, also calledmyofibrils,contain thin filaments that are arranged repeatedly with other myofibrils.
Muscle fiber composition
The muscle fibers within the muscle are grouped into bundles and connected by connective tissue.
What affects the composition of meat?
Internal and external factors that affect the structure and chemical composition of meat include the breed or species of animal, sex, age, or diet.
Internal factors
Fat and oil (called lipids) can affect the flavor, juiciness, tenderness, and caloric content of meat, but may also cause changes in the meat's muscle fibers. Thin, short fibers make meat more tender, while thick, long fibers make meat firmer.
Let's look at some common meats: beef, pork, and lamb. Rib-eye steaks, pork chops, and lamb loin are all examples of tender cuts of meat with thin, short muscle fibers. Meanwhile, beef belly, pork belly, and lamb brisket are all examples of tough cuts with long, thick muscle fibers.
External factors
Extrinsic factors such as an animal's diet and feeding practices can greatly affect the composition and metabolic properties of its meat. These result in various qualities and types of cuts of meat from around the world.
Environmental factors, including pollutants, chemical residues and climate, also have a direct impact on meat structure, tenderness, health value and ultimately quality.
How do muscles become meat?
In order to make meat suitable for consumption, an animal's muscles must go through a series of processes.
Once slaughtered, the animal's blood circulation stops and its heart stops beating. Since blood helps carry oxygen to the muscles and remove waste products from the body, this means the muscles can no longer use oxygen. Once all the oxygen is used up, the way the muscles break down energy changes and begins to produce lactic acid. As lactic acid accumulates, the pH decreases.
Acid buildup in the muscles causes calcium to be released into the muscles, causing them to contract. The remaining energy in the muscles is then used to aid relaxation.
As more calcium is pumped into the muscle, this process repeats until all the energy is used up, causing it to keep contracting without being able to relax.
This process can take anywhere from a few hours to a day, and the end result is a state of permanent contraction known as rigor mortis, meaning rigor mortis.
While live muscle has a neutral pH of about 7, raw meat has a final pH of about 5.5, which is more acidic than live muscle. This acidic pH is responsible for the unique flavor we associate with meat, which is extremely difficult to replicate.
The structure of vegan meat
Whether it’s for environmental, health or ethical reasons, some people choose vegan or alternative meat products. Vegan meat or meat alternatives are often made from plant-based ingredients, such as vegetable protein from peas or soybeans from soybeans.
Over the past few years, a variety of "alternative meat" products have emerged on the market, which use plant-based ingredients to create flavors and textures similar to traditional meat.
FAQ
What is the structure of meat?
The edible part of animal meat is mainly its muscle tissue. The structure of meat muscle consists of fibers bundled together with connective tissue.
What is meat made of?
The structure of meat is mainly composed of animal muscle tissue. Muscle tissue is composed of three major parts: muscle cells, connective tissue, and fat.
The meat we consume today is primarily composed of animal muscles that undergo a transformation process that begins after the animal is killed, culminating in its muscles remaining in a constant state of stiffness called rigor mortis.
What is the chemical composition of meat?
Meat is mainly composed of animal muscle tissue. Muscles are made up of bundles of cells called fibers. There are internal and external environmental factors that influence the quality of the meat we consume.
What is vegan meat made of?
Vegan meat, also known as alternative meat, is made from plant-based ingredients and proteins and is produced in a variety of ways to mimic the complex flavors and textures of animal meat.
