METHODS OF PRESERVATION OF

MEAT AND MEAT PRODUCTS

INTRODUCTION
Meat primarily obtained from herbivorous animals, such as cattle,
buffaloes, goats, sheep, camels, horses, is widely consumed by people
of developed as well as developing nations. Rich nutrient matrix meat
is the first-choice source of animal protein for many people all over
the world. The transformation of animals into meat involves several
operations, which include handling and loading of animals on the
farm, transporting animals to slaughterhouses, off-loading and
holding of animals and slaughtering of animals. Poor operational
techniques and facilities in any of these operations will result in
unnecessary suffering and injuries to animals, which can lead to loss
of meat, reduced meat quality and spoilage of meat. Therefore, the
prevention of contamination during meat cutting and processing is
very essential. Storage time can be extended through hygienic
slaughtering and clean handling of the carcass. Due to nearly neutral
pH, high moisture content and rich nutrients, it is highly prone to
contamination by microorganisms, which makes the preservation of
meat more difficult than most other foods. The principle of
preservation is to create unfavorable conditions for the growth of
microorganisms, which result spoilage of food. Due to spoilage, the
texture, flavor and nutritive value of meat are altered and thereby,
rendering it inedible for human use. Unless proper preservation
methods are adopted, deterioration, microbial activity, enzymatic and
chemical reactions along with physical changes is bound to occur.
However, once meat is contaminated with microorganisms, their
removal is difficult. Hence, preservation of meat is done by various
preserving techniques such as chilling/refrigeration, freezing, curing,
smoking, thermal processing, canning, dehydration, irradiation,
chemicals and pressure processing. This communication is an attempt
to present an overview of various methods employed for the
preservation of meat throughout the world.

PRESERVATION OF MEAT
Meat preservation became essential for transportation of meat for
long distances without spoiling of texture, color and nutritional value
after the development and rapid growth of super markets. Traditional
methods of meat preservation such as drying, smoking, brining,
fermentation, refrigeration and canning have been replaced by new
preservation techniques such as chemical, bio-preservative and non-
thermal techniques. The aims of preservation methods are to inhibit
the microbial spoilage and also to minimize the oxidation and
enzymatic spoilage. Current meat preservation methods are broadly
categorized into three methods
(a) Controlling temperature
(b) Controlling water activity
(c) Use of chemical or bio-preservatives.
A combination of these preservation techniques can be used to
diminish the process of spoilage.
The preservation of food has several objectives.
1. To control foodborne infections and intoxications
2. To ensure the safety of food from microbes
3. To prevent the spoilage of food
4. To extend the shelf life of food
5. To enhance the keeping quality of food
6. To reduce financial losses

CHILLING/REFRIGERATION
This is the most widely used method of preservation for short term
storage of meat as chilling/refrigeration slows or limit the spoilage
rate at temperature below the optimal range can inhibit the microbial
growth, enzymatic as well as chemical reactions. Storage of fresh meat
is done at a refrigeration temperature of 2 to 5°C. Chilling is critical for
meat hygiene, safety, shelf life, appearance and nutritional quality.
Carcasses are first hanged in chilled coolers (15°C) to remove their
body heat, and are then passed on to holding coolers (5°C). It is
essential to maintain proper spacing between carcasses so as to allow
throughout air circulation. It is employed by two methods:
(a) Immersion chilling, in which the product is immersed in chilled
(4°C) water and
(b) Air chilling, in which the carcasses are misted with water in a room
with circulating chilled air

FREEZING
Freezing is an ideal method of keeping the original characteristics of
fresh meat. Meat contains about 50-75% by weight water, depending
on the species, and the process of freezing converts most of water into
ice. It stops the microbial load and retards the action of enzymes. The
most significant advantage of freezing is the retention of most of the
nutritive value of meat during storage, with a very little loss of
nutrients occurring in the drip during thawing process. It is important
to wrap fresh meat in suitable packaging film before freezing
otherwise meat undergoes freeze burn. This abnormal condition
occurs due to progressive surface dehydration resulting in the
concentration of meat pigments on the surface.
The quality of frozen meat is also influenced by its freezing rate. In
low freezing, there is formation of large ice crystals, which may cause
physical damage to muscular tissue, giving it distorted appearance in
the frozen state. In fast freezing, numerous small ice crystals are
formed uniformly throughout the meat tissue. The freezing rate is
increased with decreases in temperature, almost 98% of water freezes
at -20°C and complete crystal formation occurs at 65°C. Thus, problem
of muscle fiber shrinkage and distorted appearance is not there in
meat tissue. The drip losses during thawing are considerably low as
water freezes within the muscle fiber itself. Numerous small ice
crystals on the surface of the fast frozen meat are also important as
they give a desirable light color as compared to slow frozen meat.
Microbial growth stops at -12°C and total inhibition of the cellular
metabolism in animal tissues occurs below -18°C. However, enzymatic
reactions, oxidative rancidity and ice crystallization will still play an
important part in spoilage. During freezing, about 60% of the viable
microbial population dies but the remaining population gradually
increases during frozen storage.

CURING
Sodium chloride, sodium nitrate, sodium nitrite and sugar are main
curing ingredients. Various methods of curing are practiced in India,
such as dry cure, pickle cure, injection cure, direct cure etc.
Preservation of meat by heavy salting is an old age practice. Sodium
chloride has a long history of use in food preservation in sufficiently
high concentrations. It was applied as a thumb rule because
refrigeration facilities were not available during olden days. Later,
curing by common salt and sodium nitrate resulted in comparatively
improved products. Sodium Chloride inhibits microbial growth by
increasing osmotic pressure as well as decreasing the water activity in
the micro-environment. Some bacteria can be inhibited by
concentrations as low as 2%. A concentration of 20% of sodium
chloride is high enough to inhibit many food spoilage yeasts including
Yarrowia lipolytica, Kluyveromyces marxianus , Pichia anomala ,
Pichia membranaefaciens, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Yarrowia
lipolytica , Zygosaccharomyces bailii , and Zygosaccharomyces rouxii.
However, some microorganisms from the genera Bacillus and
Micrococcus have shown ability to tolerant high concentrations of salt.
Sugars have the capabilities to bind with moisture and reduce water
activity in foods. Dextrose, sucrose, brown sugar, corn syrup, lactose,
honey, molasses, maltodextrins, and starches are generally used in
dried meat processing as a source of sugars or carbohydrates to
enhance flavor, reduce harshness of salt and lower water activity.

SMOKING
Meat smoking is also known as an aid in the preservation for a long
time to the meat product. It is now well known that smoke contains a
large number of wood degradation products such as aldehydes,
ketones, organic acids, phenols and many more. Preservation of meat
by smoke is also due to surface dehydration, lowering the surface pH
and antioxidant property of smoke constituents. Curing and smoking
of meat are closely related. These days, curing is usually followed by
smoking.
Smoke is produced in specially constructed smoke house where
sawdust or hard wood and sometimes both are subjected to
combustion at the temperature of about 300°C. Smoke generation is
accompanied by formation of numerous organic compounds and their
condensation products. Aldehydes and phenols condense, which
constitute 50% of smoke components and contribute to the most of
the color of the smoked meat products. Phenols act mainly as the chief
bactericidal compounds.
Currently, many liquid smoke preparations are commercially available
in the developed countries. Liquid smoke is generally prepared from
hard wood wherein polycyclic-hydrocarbons are removed by
filtration. Application of liquid smoke on the product surface before
cooking imparts it a smoky flavor, which is very much liked by the
consumer.

IRRADIATION
Irradiation is also known as “cold sterilization”. It is the emission and
propagation of energy in the material media. Electromagnetic
radiations are in the form of continuous waves. These are capable of
ionizing molecules in their path. These radiations can destroy the
microorganisms by fragmenting their DNA molecules and causing
ionization of water within microorganisms. It is pertinent to mention
that microbial destruction of foods take place without significantly
rising the temperature of the food.
Gamma radiations produce desired effect only during food irradiation
and have no effect after removal of source. These are widely used in
food preservation. Among the known ionizing radiations, UV
radiations are mostly bactericidal in nature but do not have good
preventing power, so these are used only for surface sterilization of
meat.

CANNING
It is the process of preservation achieved by thermal sterilization of a
product held in hermetically sealed containers. Canning preserves the
sensory attribute such as appearance, flavor and texture of the meat
products to a large extent. Besides, canned meat products have a shelf
life of at least two years at ambient temperature. Canning involves
several steps, which include preparation of meat, precooking, filling,
exhausting, seaming, thermal processing, cooling, and storage.

CONCLUSION
Meat is an important component of a healthy and balanced diet due to
its nutritional richness. The composition of meat provides an ideal
environment for the growth and propagation of spoilage microbes and
common foodborne pathogens. Microbial growth and metabolism
depends upon the condition of the carcasses at the time of slaughter,
the type of packaging and storage conditions. Microbial spoilage
results in a sour taste, off-flavors, discoloration, gas production, pH
change, slime formation, structural components degradation, off odors
and change in appearance. Preservation ensures that the quality,
nutritive value and edibility of meat remain intact. It may be noted
that modern meat food processors do not rely on any single
preservative technique. For controlling enzymatic, oxidative and
microbial spoilage, low temperature storage and chemical techniques
are the most common in the industry today. It is essential to store the
meat at lower than 4°C immediately after slaughtering and during
transport and storage, as it is critical for meat hygiene, safety, shelf
life, appearance and eating quality. Therefore, it is imperative to
employ a combination of preservative factor in a balanced manner to
derive maximum benefit. A combination of chemical additives such as
tertiary butyl hydroxyl quinine and ascorbic acid can be most effective
for controlling spoilage of meat and meat products. The application of
pressure-processed meat or meat products will be launched in the
market in the near future because of the development of true
commercial-scale high-pressure machines and reduced running costs.