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CHAPTER ONE 1.0 INTRODUCTION Meat has been defined as the flesh of animals which is suitable as food. Meat makes a valuable contribution to diets because of its high biological value and an excellent source of amino acids， vitamins and minerals (CAST， 1997). A daily intake of 100 g of meat can supply up to 50% of the recommended daily allowance for Iron， Zinc， Selenium， Vitamins B1， B2， B6， B12 and 100% of vitamin A (Biesalski and Nohr， 2009). In Nigeria there is a preferential consumption of different types of meat by communities due to a combination of factors bordering on religious belief， culture， food habits， sex of animal， age at slaughter， socio-economic factors and individual variation (Ajiboye et al.， 2011). Meat being nutritious with high moisture content and nearly neutral pH is a good culture medium for many micro-organisms (bacteria， yeasts and moulds) and as such， classified among perishable foods whose contamination with spoilage organisms are almost unavoidable (Ikeme， 1990). This makes meat preservation more difficult than other types of food as it may result in oxidative rancidity， discolouration， off flavour， sliminess etc. The kind and amount of spoilage organisms in meat depends upon the availability of nutrients， presence of oxygen， temperature， pH at storage and generation interval of the spoilage microorganism under given environment etc. (Forrest et al.， 2001). It is necessary to minimize deterioration in order to prolong the time during which acceptable levels of quality are maintained. This depends upon the processing and preservative method used and the inherent properties of the meat in question (Forrest et al.， 2001).
