Comparative study of meat composition from various animal species

Abstract

The meat of various species of animals has specific composition, structure and odor, however, the identification of meat raw materials is a difficult problem. Fatty and amino acid composition of meat components being a part of recipes of meat products has been investigated. The factors influencing the results of analytical determination of individual fatty and amino acids are shown. The main ratios
for sheep, pigs, boars, cows, turkeys, horses, chicken, pheasants and wild boars, allowing their use in production of modern meat products with variable nutrition value are presented, too. Calculation of specific ratios of fatty acids in fats from various species of animals allows revealing the characteristic features. Thus, horsemeat has a high share of fatty acids with 18 atoms of carbon; these are mainly; oleinic, linoleic and linolenic acids. The C18:C12 ratio in horsemeat is 6 times higer than in pork, 18 times higher than in beef, 8 and 2 times higher than in mutton and turkey meat, respectively. The ratios of amino acids – arginine, histidine and lysine for the investigated species of animals have been obtained. These ratios do not depend on age or weight of the animal. For example, for mutton it is 2:3:1 and for pork 1.5:2.0 – 2.2:1. Comparative analysis of the readings of the sensors of VOCmeter instrument, as obtained during investigations of volatile components of beef, pork, mutton, chicken meat, ostrich and turkey meat, and their processing by principal components methods, allowed revelation of meat from different species of animals and poultry with a high degree of reliability. The data obtained can be used for production of advanced meat products.