Meat and Animal Product Quality

Meat and animal product quality research examines the biological, chemical, and microbial processes that determine how safe, nutritious, and appealing animal-derived foods are from slaughter through consumption. Oxidation of lipids and proteins degrades flavor, color, and texture over time, while spoilage microbiota can render products unsafe well before visible signs appear, making the interplay between preservation chemistry and microbiology a central concern. Researchers are actively working to understand how muscle fiber composition at the time of harvest translates into traits like water-holding capacity and tenderness, and how interventions such as modified atmosphere packaging or natural antioxidants can slow deterioration without compromising what consumers actually find acceptable. A persistent challenge is bridging the gap between measurable physical and chemical indicators of quality and the sensory judgments that drive purchasing decisions.

Works

150,943

Total citations

2,547,780

Keywords

Meat QualityProtein OxidationLipid OxidationAntioxidantsSpoilage MicrobiotaWater-Holding Capacity