ABSTRACT

Muscle is the tissue that moves us about and transports the liquids within us. There are two general types of muscle — striated and smooth — with this nomenclature derived from the microscopic appearance. Striated muscle has striations while smooth does not. Striated muscle can be further subdivided into skeletal and cardiac. The common feature of the muscle types is that the cells are enriched in proteins that interact in a cyclic fashion to produce force and/or shorten the cell. These proteins are myosin in the thick lament and actin in the thin laments. If the cell is connected to other muscle cells around a lumen, as in smooth and cardiac muscle, it will decrease the lumen volume and thus move things about within us. If it is attached to the skeleton, as for skeletal muscle, it will move the skeleton and thus allow change in our position or location. All three types of muscle are used in meat products, with smooth and cardiac mostly found in comminuted products and skeletal found in intact or near intact meat products as well as comminuted products. Skeletal muscle is by far the most important in animal agriculture and is the main focus of this chapter.