Biochemistry of Processing Meat and Poultry

The biochemical changes happening during meat conditioning (aging) were abundantly reported during the 1970s and 1980s. It has been in recent decades that more information has been available for the biochemical changes in other products such as cooked, dry-fermented, and dry-cured meats. The processing and quality of these meat products have been improved based on a better knowledge of the biochemical mechanisms involved in the generation of color, flavor, and texture. The endogenous enzyme systems that play important roles in these processes mainly through proteolysis and lipolysis reactions are described in this chapter. Other biochemical reactions like oxidation, glycolysis, and nucleotides breakdown are also described.