Chemical Composition of Meat and Meat Products

Abstract

Meat is the flesh of certain animal species that is used as food by humans and includes many tissues and edible parts although the main tissue is the muscle. This chapter describes the muscle composition and the conversion of muscle into meat, the meat components (nitrogen compounds and enzymes, lipids, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and water), their influence in meat quality, and the factors that affect meat composition.