Poultry: Meat Processing, Cooling and Preservation Methods

Description

Meat is a highly perishable product and quickly becomes unfit to eat through microbial growth, chemical change and breakdown by endogenous enzymes making it possibly dangerous to health. These processes can be curtailed by reducing the temperature sufficiently to slow down or inhibit the growth of microorganisms, by heating to destroy organisms and enzymes (cooking, canning), or by removal of water by drying or osmotic control (binding the water with salt or other substances so that it becomes unavailable to the organisms).
Unlike vegetables, Meat is frozen without any prior treatment, so there is little or no loss of nutrients during the freezing procedure, nor during frozen storage apart from vitamin E. Poultry is derived from the skeletal muscles of various birds and is a good source of protein, fat, and vitamins and minerals in the diet. Proteins are unchanged during frozen storage but fats are susceptible to rancidity. Pork and poultry meat are more susceptible since they are richer in unsaturated fatty acids than other meats, and comminuted meat is also very susceptible to rancidity because of the large surface area which is accessible to oxygen.
This book contains the processing of fresh meats, curing, smoking preservation and packaging methods of processed meat etc. The book is very useful for entrepreneurs, technocrats and those who want to diversify into this field.