ABSTRACT
Proteins are the major nonwater ingredients of muscle foods and constitute almost 20% of the weight of lean muscle tissue. Proteins are polymers of amino acids that perform diverse functions. They comprise the enzymes that catalyze biochemical reactions to sustain life. Muscle tissue also contains large quantities of proteins involved in the process of muscle contraction. Since the amino acid composition of proteins from food animals is similar to human muscle and since the muscle makes up almost 50% of our body’s weight, muscle foods are an excellent source of the amino acids needed for growth, repair, and maintenance. Determination of protein content is necessary for measuring muscle food composition to meet human nutritional requirements,1 for the meat industry use in product formulation and to meet legal requirements for product identity, and for research on the role of specic proteins in foods and biological processes.
