Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
industrialized countries is packaged to prevent contamination and damage so that it can
be kept in refrigerated conditions for up to 10 days without spoilage. For marketing pur-
poses, this means that unsold inventory can be kept for the next day. If the butcher does
not have refrigeration, unsold inventory spoils and is lost. Prices must be raised to com-
pensate for spoilage and losses.
Methods of preservation of meat products have been developed and are commonly
used in areas without easy access to refrigeration. These involve either drying
or cooking.
Drying normally consists of cutting meat into thin strips to permit rapid dehy-
dration. The strips may be treated with salt or lightly smoked to enhance the flavor
and keeping qualities. In regions with high temperatures and low humidity, drying in
the sun is often practiced. Where this is not possible, drying in heated boxes or
rooms is required. After the meat strips are dried, they must be stored in dry, insect-
and rat-proof conditions. When used for food, the strips are cut into small pieces to
eat as snacks or rehydrated before cooking.
Cooking is practiced in more commercial settings where the meat products are to
be stored in glass jars or metal cans. The basic process consists of heating the products
to temperatures over 1008C or higher by combining hot water and steam under pressure.
The goal is to nearly eliminate all microorganisms without severely altering the taste or
texture of the meat. To destroy spores of Clostridium botulinum, it is necessary to heat
the product to 1218C for 2.45 minutes. In practice, meat products cooked at 121 to
1408C and sealed properly can be stored as long as 4 years in tropical conditions.
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Leather.
Leather is the treated skin of any animal. The majority of cattle and
buffalo leather goes into the manufacture of shoes and footwear. Some is used as
jackets and other garments in industrialized countries. The leather from buffaloes is
especially useful the for manufacture of helmets.
7.6
SHEEP AND GOAT PRODUCTION
Sheep
Latin Name: Ovis aries
Other English Names: Ewe, ram, lamb, wether
Goat
Latin Name: Capra hircus
Other English Names: Doe, nanny, buck, kid, billy, wether
Domestic sheep are found in most countries of the world shown in Figure 7.20 with
the top five countries being China, Australia, India, Iran, and Sudan. Most sheep pro-
duction is in grassland-based production systems such as Mongolia's steppe areas,
New Zealand's sheep enterprises, and the sheep grazing systems of the altiplano of
Peru and Bolivia. Landless production systems are only found in parts of western
