Red meat
Meat is defined in food preparation as the edible flesh of domesticated animals.
Basically, there are two types of meat –red ,eat and white meat. According to the definition, the red meats, commonly utilized include beef, veal, pork and lamb. The flesh of poultry, including chicken, turkey and duck is termed ‘white meat.’
The chemical composition of met varies to a large degree. Meat may contains 45-70% water, 15-20% protein and anywhere from 5 to 40% fats depending on the cut and trim.
Red meat is low in total fat, saturated fatty acids – SFAs and salt, whereas untrimmed meat is higher in both total fat and saturated fatty acids,; processed meat is generally higher in salt and fat and often contains other components such as nitrites which are added during processing.
Saturated fats promotes less oxidation, and therefore less rancidity.
Meat is principally composed of protein which provides 17kJ/4kcal of energy per gram, but also contains fat in varying amounts providing 37kJ/9kcal of energy per gram.
The three types of protein in meats are myofibril, stromal protein and sarcoplasmic protein.
Meats are composed of muscle, connective tissue, fat and bone.
Muscle is approximately 75 percent of water and 20 percent protein with a remaining 5 percent representing a combination of fat, carbohydrate and minerals.
When buying meat, the people should choose cuts of meat that have the least amount of visible fat, and should trim this visible fat off the meat or remove the skin with the fat underneath it before cooking the meat.
