Pork：Meat Quality and Processed Meat Products

The processing of pork is a common technological practice that modifies the taste, flavor, texture and color of raw pork meat. Due to its accessible price and versatility, the manufacture of pork products is an important strategy to offer different options of pork to consumers by meat industries in this sector that will also improve their profits, and expand their business to new markets at local, regional and international levels. Moreover, the current diversity of pork products is also attributed to the local culture, history and preservation of traditional processing practices.

This combination of factors led to production of several pork products that can be classified in one of the following categories: fresh meat, fermented sausages, dry-cured products, blood sausages and cooked. Pork: Meat Quality and Processed Meat Products delves into the various kinds of pork and their manufacturing processes. Each category has specific raw material pre-processing (entire cut vs minced pork meat), ingredients (e.g.

sodium chloride, starter cultures, blood, seasoning, and spices), processing conditions (such as salting, drying, thermal processing, and fermenting stages) and consumption habits (cooking, slicing, spreading, and as ingredient in meals, for instance). Consequently, a wide variety of pork meat products are currently been produced worldwide. However, due to the modern eating habits, the increasing importance between food composition and health among consumers, and the demand for products with specific health "benefits" are factors that are influencing the research and production of pork meat products.

Key Features:Comprehensively presents and discusses the wealth of information about pork productsIncludes specific details about the processing, quality of final products, and innovative aspectsPresents innovative health-oriented approaches to elaborated traditional and commercial pork productsDiscusses healthier pork meat products that adhere to consumer trends and government recommendationsThe production of health-oriented pork products is an emerging and promising investigation area with direct impact in modern meat products market.