Meat and meat products: animal species, products, processing, quality, and shelf life

Meat and meat products are essential components in our modern diet. The consolidated production of meat animal production is mainly composed of three sources: pork, chicken, and cattle. Traditional and modern processing methods permit the production of different products that includes burgers, marinated cuts, sausages (fresh, fermented/dry-cured, and pasteurized), dry-cured meats (ham, lacón, loin, and cecina), liver pâté, corned beef, and nuggets. Although processing increases shelf life and impart sensorial changes in meat, quality decay is take place gradually and leads to a product with unacceptable and/or unsafe characteristics. The growth of spoilage microorganisms is one of the main causes of quality decay. Another key process associated with quality decay is the oxidation of myoglobin, lipids, and proteins. This chapter aims to provide an overview of the main species used for animal production, and focus in the processing of meat into meat products, their characteristics, and the main processes leading to quality decay.