Meat constitutes the edible portion derived from the remains of living animals, encompassing both domesticated species like cattle, hogs, sheep, goats, and poultry, and wild animals such as deer, rabbit, and fish.
Considering that the primary constituent of edible animal tissue is muscular, it can be conveniently recognized as the postmortem expression of muscles.
Striated muscles are categorized as either cardiac or skeletal. Cardiac muscles are confined to the heart and are consistently engaged in pumping and circulating blood throughout the body.
Skeletal muscles, identifiable by their striated appearance, are attached to the backbone and participate in voluntary movements, contributing to both locomotion and posture. These muscles exhibit a diverse range of shapes, sizes, anatomical locations, and physiological functions.
The structure of skeletal muscles is intricate, encompassing not only muscle fibers but also connective, adipose, vascular, and nervous tissues. The essential qualities that consumers value in meat, such as color, texture (including tenderness and juiciness), and flavor, hinge on the structural and chemical makeup of the muscle.
Roughly 90% of a skeletal muscle is composed of muscle fibers, while the remaining 10% comprises connective and fat tissues. A muscle is typically enveloped by a dense layer of connective tissue called the epimysium and further divided into bundles of fibers by the perimysium. The individual muscle fibers are encased by a plasma membrane, surrounded by a thin layer of connective tissue known as the endomysium.
Skeletal muscles play a pivotal role in regulating locomotion, maintaining posture, and protecting vital organs. On average, a meat animal carcass contains approximately 100 bilaterally symmetrical pairs of individually distinctive muscles, varying in size, shape, color, and tendon concentration based on their respective functions and locations.
Meat: Postmortem Muscular Manifestation
