Meat and Meat Processing

Meat products occupy quite an exceptional position in the preferences of the consumers and the interest of food industry, since they provide human organism with high quality proteins, vitamins and minerals. At the same time, a constant challenge is faced by the health sector around the world to uncover the causes associated with the etiology of several diseases. Much attention has therefore been paid to develop meat products with physiological functions that promote human health, which is discussed in Chapter One. In Chapter Two, the authors describe how understanding and monitoring the oxidation processes is essential for the development of technological strategies to improve the meat industry. Chapter Three presents the latest achievements in the production of dry-cured meat products as well as updated scientific and technological information on the safety, quality and nutritional properties of this group of meat products. Chapter Four presents an overview of the main sample preparation methods and analytical techniques applied for trace-element determination in meat samples. Chapter Five describes what is known about the effects of the use of electrical stimulation of carcasses of meat animals, including the effects on meat tenderness and meat sensorial characteristics. Chapter Six covers the quality of donkey carcass and donkey meat quality parameters, showing its chemical and sensorial characteristics (when possible in different muscles) and evaluating the effects of the age of slaughtering. Finally, in Chapter Seven, the authors present both the benefits and risks of nitrites and nitrates, as well as the possibilities of using acid whey as an alternative to nitrites/nitrates in meat products.