WHAT IS MEAT PROCESSING

Major principles involved in meat processing are use of heat, low temperature,


smoking, modified atmosphere packaging and ionizing radiations. The

methods of preservation are mainly grouped in three categories i.e. control by
temperature, by moisture and by lethal agents (bactericidal, fungicidal etc.)

The principles of meat preservation are mainly associated with preventing or



delaying microbial spoilage and enymatic / chemical reaction, and avoiding as

far as possible weight loss and any change in taste or texture.>>
ENHANCINCING MEAT QUALITY AND SAFET

MAINLY DONE THROUGH PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL METHODS


 ADVANTAGES OF MEAT PROCESSING
Addition of different ingredients to meat improves taste and flavour.
Specific processing conditions and ingredients improve shelf life.
Processed products are convenient to handle and eat.
Processing improves nutritive value.
Products of specific requirements can be preparede.g., for children, old age or
obese people.
Processing add value to meat.
Low value meat cuts can be better utilized in the processed products.
Edible meat byproducts can be effectively utilized in the processed products.
Processing improves demand and marketability of meat.
Meat protein can be provided to consumers at affordable price.
 An effort to extend the shelf-life of meat by inhibiting/limiting microbial
growth and enzymatic or chemical reactions which can spoil meat.

Principle of Meat Preservation

Controlling microbial activities by preventing contamination, preventing
microbial growth, removing microbes, and killing microbes or spores.
Controlling enzymatic activities through endogenous enzyme inactivation,
prevention and delay of chemical reactions.
Controlling insects, rodents and other physical influence which can spoil food
(lighting, air, and physical pressure).
 FUNCTION OF MEAT PRESERVATION

Reducing any harm potential caused by microbes to consumers,

Maintaining meat quality especially its sensory characteristics,
Maintaining nutritional values at a safe level.
PHYSICAL MEAT PRESERVATION
Chilling 0-6oC
Freezing under 0oC, for export, it is frozen to btn -18 and -400C
Heating or cooking
Dehydration 
Freeze drying 
Irradiation 
Extraction of the moisture inhibits the growth of microorganisms.
Lowering the temperature of the product to below freezing, and then a high-
pressure vacuum is applied to extract the water in the form of vapour
Treating food with ionizing radiation can kill bacteria and parasites (irradiatio)
 Characteristics of Chemical Preservatives for Meat
Inhibiting or preventing changes in meat quality during limited storage.
Extending the shelf life.
Functioning as preservatives.
Improving the nutritional values, aroma and flavor.
Functioning as coloring agent.
Controlling the color.
Controlling the pH.
NOTE: this will be more elaborated during practicals
 Requirement of Preservatives

Not changing the sensory characteristics of food.

Safe for consumption at an effective concentration for preservation.
Easy to recognize and the level can be easily known.
The food quality does not harm consumers.
Economical.
 Chemical Preservation

 Chemical preservatives are bacteriostatic or fungistatic.

 Some of the chemical preservatives for meat are: salt, nitrite, nitrate,
sorbic acid, sugar, sulphur dioxide, propionic acid, and benzoic acid.
  Cured meat products

Curing of meat involves the essentially addition of sodium chloride, sodium

nitrite or sodium nitrate and adjuncts to meat for increasing shelf-life and to
obtain desirable colour and flavour.
Sugar may or may not be added along with other ingredient to improve flavour.
Curing can be done for both raw/cooked meats cut products as well for
comminuted meat products e.g. sausages and similar preparations.
Most popular raw cured meat includes ham and bacon which are pork
products. However, the technique can be applied to any meat group.
Commonly used salt sodium chloride is most essential ingredients and it significantly inhibits
growth of microorganism including Clostridium botulinum due to increase in the osmotic
pressure of the medium and dehydration of the muscle.
Salt if used alone results in dark coloured, unpalatable dry harsh and salty product.
Therefore, it is recommended to be used in combination with sugar and nitrite and nitrate. Salt
should be of good quality.
Dry salting utilizes higher levels of salts; however, acceptable level of salt is about 3% for
most of the meats and about 2% for bacon.
Nitrite/nitrate has as well a small inhibitory effect on C. botulinum. However, it plays very
important role in colour fixation of the cured meat.
Sugar contributes to flavour and colour development due to mailard browning and also helps
in increasing shelf life by controlling of bacterial growth.
Chemistry of curing process and meat colour development
During the dry curing process salt in dry form is rubbed on the surface of
the meat whereas in meat wet curing meat portion is immersed in the curing
solution.
The latest techniques of curing includes use of artery pumping, multiple
needle injection, thermal or hot cures, tumbling, massaging, are employed
to accelerate the curing the processes.
The salt’s protein complex binds the water well thus the water holding
capacity of proteins generally increases during curing.
The final meat contains increased ash due to the absorbed salts. Generally
salting results in darkening of the colour.
 To counteract the effect of salt nitrite/nitrates are added to salt which fix the desirable pink
colour of the meat. “Red meat colour is associated with freshness and quality”
Process:- Meat pigmation and colour changes
1. The natural muscle meat colour is purplish, due to Myoglobin Proteins.
2. It is oxidized on exposure to air (oxgen) very fast to Oxy-myoglobin >> this is Bright Red
color;is very unstable, thus can undergo further changes
3. On further exposure of oxy-myoglobin to air (O2), it gives a compound called
Met-myoglobin which is brown, (a bit stable but not desired)
4. During curing the Nitrates and nitrites (NO2 / NO) are used used to fix the red colour.

5. NO2 / NO in solution form Nitri acd which bind to myoglobin forming NO-myyoglobin, this
chages meat to Red color. This is a reduction reaction calyzed by reducing agents occuring
naturally in meat like vitamin C and others.
6. When Nitric Oxide-myoglobin
is exposed to heat or cooked, it is
changed to Nitric acid -
heamochrome
( Nitrosylhemochrome) which is
pink red colur,a stable colour of
Cured meat.
Nitrates and Nitrites supress Microbal
growth thus increasing shelf life.
 CURING
Curing is a meat processing by adding various ingredients such as NaCl, sodium
nitrite or sodium nitrate, sugar, and spices.
Aims of curing are:_
(1) Getting stable colors,
(2) Getting fine aroma, texture and palatability,
(3) Reducing folding during processing,
(4) Rxtending the shelf life of meat products.
 Ingredients of Curing

Curing ingredients consist of: salt, sugar, nitrite, or nitrate.

Additional curing ingredients are: phosphate, spices, bicarbonate, sodium

erythorbate, sodium ascorbate, potassium sorbate, hydrolyzed vegetable

proteins, and monosodium glutamate.

NOTE:- please note the curing ingredients you will use and function for each
 Meat Smoking
Smoke for treatment of meat products is produced from raw wood.
Smoke is generated through the thermal destruction of the wood components lignin and cellulose.
The thermal destruction sets free more than 1000 desirable or undesirable firm, liquid or gaseous
components of wood.
These useful components contribute to the development of the following desirable effects on
processed meat products:
1) Meat preservation through aldehydes, phenols and acids (anti-microbial effect/bacteriostatic
2) action)
3) Antioxidant impact through phenols and aldehydes(retarding fat oxidation)
4) Smoke specific flavour through phenols, carbonyls and others (smoking taste)
5) Smoke colour formation through carbonyls and aldehydes (attractive colour /appearance)
6) Surface hardening of sausages/casings through aldehydes (in particular for more rigid
structure of the casing)
7) To prevent oxidation reaction or as antioxidant.
It is meat preservation using wood smoke in the form of natural smoke or liquid of meat or
meat product.
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 FRESH SAUSAGE PREPARATION
What is asausage?
It is a comminuted seasoned meats, stuffed into casings; it may be
smoked, cured, fermented and heated. They are made from any edible
part of the slaughtered, veterinary-inspected animal, and a series of
nonmeat ingredients.

Meat comminution
Comminution is a process of particle size reduction of meat, either raw or
pre-cooked, by cutting, grinding, shredding, or mincing.
The size particles depend the type of sausage produced, some are coarse
others form smooth emulsion.
It improves uniform particle size and distribution of ingredients.
it also leads to a more tender mix as the meat is subdivided into smallar
Equipment used in emulsion includes:-

Grinders, silent cutters

a) Emulsion mills
b) and flaking machines
 BLENDING
The meat and non-meat ingredients are placed in a meat mixer and thoroughly
blended. The blending process must also obtain a uniform distribution of any non-
meat ingredients within the product formulation.
 Emulsion
Meat emulsion is a two-phase system, with the dispersed phase consisting of
either solid or liquid fat particles and the continuous phase being the water
containing salts and dissolved, gelled and suspended proteins. Thus, they can be
classified as oil-in-water emulsion.
 FISH STRUCTURE
The body of a fish is divided
into a head, trunk and tail,
although the divisions
between the three are not
always externally visible.
The skeleton, which forms
the support structure inside
the fish, is either made of
cartilage (cartilaginous fish)
What is the nutritional composition
of fishes?

Fish is filled with omega-3 fatty

acids and vitamins such as D and
B2 (riboflavin).

Fish is rich in calcium and

phosphorus and a great source of
minerals, such as iron, zinc, iodine,
magnesium, and potassium.

The American Heart Association

recommends eating fish at least two
times per week as part of a healthy
diet.
 FISH HARVESTING, HANDLING AND TRANSPORTATION; CLASSIFICATION

Fish is a source of valuable animal protein and is now considered as a health

food.

It provides nutritional security to the human food and contributes to the

agricultural exports and engages very large number of people in different
activities.

Due to the high perishability and lack of appropriate infrastructure, a large

proportion of the fish caught in Kenya is processed by traditional methods.

They include salting, drying, smoking and various combinations of these.

Large processing plants dominated by Asians process the remainder. The main
challenges are
These Asians purchase the fish at low prices on a leave or take
basis and thoroughly exploit the fishers.

The traditional processing methods lack sufficient control leading

to low returns for the fishers as they lead to poor taste and flavour,
odour and texture.

There is urgent need to address the problems experienced by the

fishers and to transfer skills to them so that they can obtain better
value for their products.
Fish, is more susceptible to FISH
spoilage than certain other  To prevent spoilage of fish, preservation
proteineous foodsdue to high must be caried out from the minute they land
moisture content. on the shores inorder to last for few days or
Fctors leading to fish spoilage even few months.
1) High fat content.  During the period of preservation the fish is
2) High protein content. kept as fresh as possible, with minimum
losses in flavour, taste, odor, form, nutritive
3) Weak muscle tissue.
value, weight and digestibility of flesh.
4) Ambient temperature.
 This preservation should cover the entire
5) Unhygienic handling.
value chain from the water to table.
6) Size
7) species
Quality Control

1. Raw material control

Important areas are: variety, appearance, colour, freedom from infections and
damage.

2. Process control
Check the preparation procedures (grading, cleaning, sorting, size, salting).
Check also smoking and drying temperatures, air circulation and speed and
relative humidity.

3. Product control
Note changes in appearance, colour, flavour, water holding capacity and avoid
any microbial infection. Ensure proper packaging depending on the product.
METHODS OF FISH

Chilling-Short periods
This is obtained by covering the fish with layers of ice. Ice is effective for
short term preservation such as is needed to transport landed fish to nearby
markets or to canning factories, etc.

Here autolytic enzyme activities are checked by lowering the temperature.

Preservation for long time

When the preservation is required for a long period of time, the fishes are
passed through the cleaning, gutting and conservation and storage.
Cleaning and gutting
During cleaning, the caught first are fish washed thoroughly in cold, clean
water to remove bacteria, slime, blood, faeces, and mud, etc. from the body
surface of the fish.
It is being done under proper sanitary conditions. Large fishes are gutted (i.e.
all the internal organs or viscera are removed) and the body cavity is washed.

Conservation/preervation and Storage

Conservation is necessary to keep the dead fish in fresh condition for quite a
long time. This is achieved by employing any one of the methods like freezing,
drying, salting, smoking and canning.
 Freezing
Freezing means removal of heat from the body.
To check the enzymal, bacterial action and putrefaction it is preferred to store
the fish under lower temperatures.

When fish is intended to be stored for a long period, quick freezing is preferred
which inhibits bacterial action.

During quick freezing every part of the product comes within the range of 00 to
-50C. Properly frozen fish at -200C retains its physical properties and nutritive
values for a year or more and is almost as good as fresh fish. There are three
ways effecting quick freezing:

a) Direct immersion of fish in the refrigerating medium,

b) Indirect contact with the refrigerant through plates
In general different methods of freezing are adapted through sharp freezer,
i. Air blast freezer,
ii. contact plate freezer,
iii. Immersion freezing,
iv. Liquid freon freezing,
v. Liquid nitrogen freezing,
vi. Fluidized bed freezer,
vii. Cryogenic freezing, etc.
Among the various types of quick freezing plants installed in India the carrier
air blast type is widely used.

The air blast freezer is in the form of a tunnel and heat transfer is affected
rapidly by the circulation of air.

The temperature used ranges from 0 to -30 0C and air velocity varies from 30 to
1050 meters/min air velocity units
Freeze drying

This is modified deep freezing, completely eliminating all chances of

denaturation. The deep frozen fish at -200C is then dried by direct sublimation
of ice to water vapour with any melting into liquid water.

This is achieved by exposing the frozen fish to 1400C in a vacuum chamber.

The fish is then packed or canned in dried condition.

The product is quite fresh looking in appearance, flavour, colour and quality.
 Salting
Salting is a process where the common salt, sodium chloride, is used as a
preservative which penetrates the tissues, thus checks the bacterial growth
and inactivates the enzymes.

factors to consider for an effective salting:_-

 The salt quality, should be a pure as possible

 The method of salting and
 weather conditions like temperature of the evironmentetc.
The fishes are well cleaned viscera are removed where necesary
It is then cut longitudinally with the help of a knife in the fleshy
area of the body.

Then the fish is washed again, and filled with salt for uniform
penetration through flesh.

Large fishes like sharks are cut into convenient sized pieces.
Generally, sardines, mackerels, seer fishes, cat fishes, sharks and
prawns are used for salting.

Dry salting and wet salting and are the methods employed in
salting of fish.
A)Dry salting
In this process the fish is first rubbed in salt and packed in layers in the tubs and
cemented tanks.
The salt is applied in between the layers of fishes in the proportion of 1:3 to 1:8
salt to fish.
The proportion of salt to fish varies with the fish since the oily fish require more
salt. At the end of 10 - 24 hours the fishes are removed from the tubs and washed
in salt brine and dried in the sun for 2 or 3 days or smoked

b) Wet salting
The cleaned fish are put in the previously prepared concentrated salt solution. It
is stirred daily till it is properly picked.

With large sized fishes, longitudinal slits are made in the flesh to allow
penetration of salt. After pickling for 7-10days, the salty water that oozes out
from the fish is allowed to drain off. This can be stored upto 3-4months.
 Smoking
Landed fish is cleaned and brined. It is then exposed to cold or hot smoke treatment.
In cold smoking, first a temperature of 38 0C is raised from a smokeless fire.
After this heating, cold smoke at a temperature below 28 0C is allowed to
circulate past and around the fish. (take note of the smoke chamber in the
workshop).
In case of hot smoking, first a strong fire produces a temperature around
1300C.This is followed by smoking at a temperature of 40 0C. The smoke has to
be wet and dense.
Good controls are necessary over density, temperature, humidity, speed of
circulation, pattern of circulation and time of contact with fish of the smoke.
The phenol content of the smoke acts as an antiseptic and it also imparts a
characteristic colour and flavour. For making fire and smoke, only hard wood
(Conifer wood, Saw dust etc.) are used, Why???
 Canning
Canning is done by putting cleaned dressed and cut fish into a saline solution.
The cans holding the fish and the saline are then double seamed under vacuum.
Thereafter, sterilization of cans takes place at 1210C for 90min under steam
pressure; followed by cooling of the cans under room temperature by running
water.

Oily fish are the most suitable for canning. Salmon, tuna, sardine, herring,
lobster, shrimp, etc. are canned.

The raw material should be processed properly since it contains most dangerous
Clostridium botulinum which should be destroyed.
Clostridium sporogenes species are heat resistant bacteria and can be
eliminated at a temperature of 5 - 6 times more than Clostridium botulinum. It
needs a temperature of 1200C for 4 minutes or at 1150C for 10 minutes to kill
them in large numbers.
 Drying
Drying involves dehydration i.e. the removal of moisture contents of fish, so
that the bacterial decomposition or enzymic autolysis does not occur.

When moisture contents reduce upto 10%, the fishes are not spoiled provided
they are stored in dry conditions.

Fish drying is achieved either naturally or by artificial means. In natural

drying the fishes after being caught are washed and dried in the sunshine.

In artificial drying the killed fishes are cleaned, gutted and have their heads
removed.

They are then cut lengthwise to remove large parts of their spinal column,
 Value Added Fisheries Products
Value addition is one of the most practical ways to increase the profitability
in fish processing and sale in domestic as well as international markets.
It is also becoming a market requirement as the wholesale traders, retail
outlets and finally the consumers are on the lookout for fish products that
require minimum preparation.
Some of the value added fish products include and not limited to
1) Fish sausages,
2) Fish fillets,
3) Fish cutlets,
4) dehydrated fish products,
5) Fish pickles,
6) Fish flakes/wafers,
7) Fish noodles.
 Fish sausage ?
Fish sausage is the ground fish meat with various ingredients (additives) like salt,
sugar, starch, spices, fat, chemicals, etc., packed in a synthetic casing, properly
sealed, boiled and cooled product.
In other words fish sausage is a ready to eat proteinacious food which is heat
processed.
Recipe
Ingredients Percentage
1. Minced fish meat 70.0%
2. Salt 2.0%
3. Sugar 1.5%
4. Polyphosphate 2.0%
5. Spices 1.0%
a) Coriander 0.3%
b) Chilli powder 0.3%
c) Pepper 0.2%
d) Garlic 0.1%
e) Ginger 0.1%
6. Mono Sodium Glutamate 0.2%
7. Preservatives 0.2%
8. 5% colour solution 0.13%
a) 2 % of carmosine
b) 3% of ponceau 4R
9. Starch 9.0%
10. Cold water 10.0%
11. Fat / Vegetable Oil 5.0%
 MICROBIAL CONDAMINATS IN FISH
Two of the most common types of microbes that can contaminate raw fish
include Salmonella and Vibrio vulnificus.

A recent study found that around 10% of the raw seafood is imported into the
US, and roughly 3% of the domestic raw seafood contains Salmonella which
can cause food poisoning.