Muscle lipids and meat quality

Abstract

Lipids are present in muscles as structural components of the muscle membranes, as storage droplets of triacylglycerol between muscle fibres and as adipose tissue (marbling fat). These lipids, or more precisely their fatty acids, contribute to a wide range of quality attributes. For fresh meat these are colour stability, drip loss and the development of oxidative rancidity. Meat colour and level of marbling are the two major factors relevant to the selection of meat by the consumer. Eating quality of meat is judged by texture and flavour. The former depends, in part, upon marbling fat which also contributes to juiciness, and flavour depends upon products from the thermal oxidation of lipids. These breakdown products react with other meat constituents to produce flavour and odour compounds. Finally, nutritional quality depends upon the fat content of the meat and it’s fatty acid composition.