Q. What are the factors which influence the spoilage of meat? Can you list a few?
Ans.
Sure enough, you should be able to enumerate these having learnt about them earlier on. These important factors which lead to the growth of microorganisms in meat are highlighted next:
Initial microflora: The initial microbial load on an animal clearly determines the keeping time under good preservation conditions. As such, the hygienic conditions of an animal are important for the reduction in the proliferation of microorganisms in the stored meat. The general sanitation of the abattoir also helps in reducing the contamination of fresh meat.
pH: After the animal is slaughtered, the pH of the carcass drops from around 7.0 to 5.6, as the glycogen reserve in the muscles is used up slowly and lactic acid is formed. If thg condition of the animal at the time of slaughter is abnormal due to excitement, stress etc., the available glycogen is used up rapidly thereby the desired reduction in pH does not occurs and the pH remains around 7.0. This helps in the growth of microorganisms and the spoilage of meat results.