ASAS Centennial Paper: A century of pioneers and progress in meat science in the United States leads to new frontiers
- 1 March 2009
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Journal of Animal Science
- Vol. 87 (3), 1192-1198
- https://doi.org/10.2527/jas.2008-1542
Abstract
Discoveries, understanding, and innovations in meat science during the last century have led to revolutionary changes in meat and poultry production, processing, marketing, and consumption. American Society of Animal Science members have made key contributions in most, if not all, categories of advancement. The first US university meat science program was begun in Minnesota in 1905. Use of mechanical refrigeration in the meatpacking industry, improved transportation and packaging, and home refrigeration provided more flexibility, variety, and consistency in meat and meat products in the early 1900s. Cooperative meat research was begun by 27 universities in 1925, with a focus on the observational characterization of carcass traits and composition, meat quality attributes, and causes of the wide variation in these variables. Scientific study of genetic, nutritional, and environmental influences on the growth, physiology, and postmortem biochemistry of muscle often used muscle-comparative investigations. Rigor mortis, cold shortening and thaw rigor, postmortem muscle metabolism, postmortem tenderization and tenderness variation, and postmortem myoglobin and lipid oxidation were studied vigorously in the 1960s and beyond, defining the biochemical bases for associated outcomes in fresh and processed products. Value-added benefits resulted from implementation of electrical stimulation, boxed beef and modified-atmosphere packaging, restructuring technologies, collagen recovery, and muscle profiling work. Isolation, purification, and definition of the primary structure and biophysical properties of the myofribillar and cytoskeletal proteins in muscle aided the understanding of contraction and postmortem changes. The role of Ca-dependent proteases in meat tenderness and muscle growth is being clarified. The chemistry of meat curing, meat emulsion formation, fermentation, and other processing methods led to new technologies, new meat products, and new benchmarks in product shelf life and quality. Meat safety assurance and our ability to manage the microbiological causes of food-borne illness and spoilage are imminently important now and in the future. Copyright © 2009. . Copyright 2009 Journal of Animal ScienceKeywords
This publication has 24 references indexed in Scilit:
- Visible/near-infrared hyperspectral imaging for beef tenderness predictionComputers and Electronics in Agriculture, 2008
- Muscle profiling: Characterizing the muscles of the beef chuck and roundMeat Science, 2005
- Mechanisms of water-holding capacity of meat: The role of postmortem biochemical and structural changesMeat Science, 2005
- On-line classification of US Select beef carcasses for longissimus tenderness using visible and near-infrared reflectance spectroscopyMeat Science, 2005
- Development of optimal protocol for visible and near-infrared reflectance spectroscopic evaluation of meat qualityMeat Science, 2004
- Identification and characterization of AMPK γ3 mutations in the pigBiochemical Society Transactions, 2003
- THE 30,000-DALTON COMPONENT OF TENDER BOVINE LONGISSIMUS MUSCLEJournal of Food Science, 1977
- EFFECT OF POSTMORTEM STORAGE AND CALCIUM ACTIVATED FACTOR ON THE MYOFIBRILLAR PROTEINS OF BOVINE SKELETAL MUSCLEJournal of Food Science, 1977
- H Blood Types in Pigs as Predictors of Stress SusceptibilityScience, 1976
- Resistance to Shearing of Heat-denatured Muscle in Relation to ShorteningNature, 1966