228 



CONCLUSIONS. 



The principal conclusions which can be drawn from the studies 

 of meat and meat products reported in this bulletin are the following: 

 Meats of different kinds and cuts may be analyzed directly and 

 with accuracy — that is, without being first previously air dried. The 

 solul)le matter in meats may be completely removed by extraction 

 with cold water and the preparation and analysis of such cold-water 

 extracts is of great importance in studies of the true value of flesh 

 foods. The total proportion of raw meat which is soluble in cold 

 water is considerable, the average results showing that the cold-water 

 extract contains about 2.3 per cent proteid, 1 per cent nitrogenous 

 extractives, 1.6 per cent nonnitrogenous extractives, 0.7 per cent nitro- 

 gen, and 0.8 per cent ash. None of the fat present in the meat is 

 dissolved by cold water. The proportion of each nutrient present in 

 the original flesh which is dissolved in cold water is, on an average, 

 proteid 13 per cent; organic extractives, including both nitrogenous 

 and nonnitrogenous compounds, 100 per cent; ash, 81 per cent; total 

 nitrogen, 22 per cent. Of the nitrogen compounds soluble in cold 

 water, 46 per cent is coagulated by heat. The nitrogen present is 

 about equall}^ divided between proteid and nonproteid bodies. 



Meats cooked by boiling are less soluble in cold water than are 

 raw meats, the average amount of nutrients recovered in the extract 

 as compared with the total weight of the meats used being 0.4 per 

 cent proteid, 0.6 per cent nitrogenous extractives, 0.8 per cent non- 

 nitrogenous extractives, 0.3 per cent nitrogen, and 0.4 per cent ash. 

 The average ratio of nonproteid to proteid nitrogen is as 1:0.31. 

 Expressed as percentages of the amount of each nutrient originally 

 present, the average values for the cold-water extract of cooked 

 meats are 1 per cent proteid, 100 per cent extractives including both 

 nitrogenous and nonnitrogenous compounds, 67 per cent ash, and 1 

 per cent nitrogen. As in the case of raw meat, no fat is dissolved by 

 the cold water. 



The different methods commonly followed in cooking meat in hot 

 water vary somewhat as to time and temperature of cooking, but the 

 resulting cooked meats are quite similar as regards composition 

 and also as regards the proportion of their constituents which are 

 soluble in cold water. 



Meats cooked b}^ dry heat, as in roasting, broiling, sauteing, and 

 frying, arS on an average 2.4 times more solu])le in water than 

 boiled meats but are only a little more than half as soluble as raw 

 meats. The results show that on an average cold water removes 

 the following percentage amounts from meats cooked by dry heat: 

 Proteid 0.7, nitrogenous extractives 1.3 nonnitrogenous extract- 

 ives 1.6, nitrogen 0.5, and ash 1 percent. Considered on a water-tree 



