THE WATER-HOLDING CAPACITY OF FRESH MEAT

Several aspects of the water-holding capacity of fresh meat are discus sed, After some compositional and structural characteristics of muscle are outlined, special attention is paid to post mortem muscle physiol ogy and related mechanisms of fluid loss from meat, Finally, determina nts of water-holding capacity (physiological factors, rearing conditio ns and processing factors) are described, From this review it can be c oncluded that the water-holding capacity and the subsequent drip loss are complex attributes of meat which are influenced by factors in the whole meat production chain, However, the effects of many factors, suc h as rearing conditions, administration of growth promoters, feed, and ageing of meat, are still not clear, To be able to optimize and contr ol the water-holding capacity of meat, it is important to have informa tion about the effects of each processing factor and the basic mechani sms involved, Once these mechanisms are known, the influence of biolog ical and technological factors will be more predictable and more easy to control, Veterinarians can play an important role in this.