Go to National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa
Volume 40, 1907
Previous Article | Table of Contents | Next Article
This text is also available in PDF
(165 KB) Opens in new window
– 322 –

Art. XXVIII.—The Analyses of certain New Zealand Meat Products.

By A. M. Wright, F.C.S. (Berlin), M. Am. C. S.

[Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 6th November, 1907.]

Numerous papers have been published on the frozen meat of New Zealand, but up to the present no work appears to have been recorded upon the food-products of lesser importance which are closely associated with the frozen-meat trade.

I. Boned Beef.

The following analyses show that this class of meat contains equal nutritive value with the ordinary flesh of healthy cattle. For comparison, figures given by Mitchell* are quoted.

[Footnote] * “Flesh Foods,” p. 47.

– 323 –

[The section below cannot be correctly rendered as it contains complex formatting. See the image of the page for a more accurate rendering.]

Boned Beef. Average.
Ox. Cow. Veal. Ox. Cow. Veal.
Water 71.13 63.14 76.28 72.03 70.96 78.82
Nitrogenous substances 21.76 18.92 21.93 20.96 19.86 19.86
Fat 6.25 17.14 1.02 5.41 7.70 0.82
Nitrogen-free extractives 0.46 0.41
Ash 0.86 0.80 0.77 1.14 1.07 0.50
Nitrogen 3.48 3.03 3.51
Calculated to Dry Substance.
Nitrogenous substances 75.37 51.33 92.48 74.93 68.38 93.76
Fat 21.65 46.50 4.30 19.34 26.52 3.87
Ash 2.98 2.17 3.22
Nitrogen 12.06 8.22 14.79 12.00 11.13 15.01

II. Meat-Extracts.

The following are the analyses of the principle meat-extracts manufactured in the colony, together with the analyses of Australian and South American extracts:—

[The section below cannot be correctly rendered as it contains complex formatting. See the image of the page for a more accurate rendering.]

New Zealand. South American Australian.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Moisture 21.79 17.16 13.10 24.21 13.16 17.28 20.65 16.42 19.04 19.48
Organic matter 59.95 65.58 67.78 59.44 69.43 62.82 71.51 69.91 59.57 62.59
Sodic chloride 3.36 3.14 4.11 2.89 3.03 3.68 1.78 3.43 4.22 3.71
Other mineral salts 14.90 14.12 15.01 13.46 14.08 16.22 6.06 10.24 17.17 14.22
Fat 0.33 0.38 0.41 0.34 0.46 0.26 14.10 0.31 0.28 0.36
Substance insoluble in water 1.02 0.36 0.21
Substance insoluble in 50 per cent. alcohol, but soluble in water 4.61 5.38 8.21 7.45 10.92 3.38 5.22 6.92 3.23
Substance insoluble in 80 per cent. alcohol, but soluble in water and 50 per cent. alcohol 15.16 20.92 16.82 15.08 22.48 18.58 13.36 12.93 11.24
Substance soluble in 80 per cent. alcohol 57.42 56.54 61.87 52.90 53.14 60.55 65.00 61.11 66.05
Nitrogen insoluble in 50 per cent. alcohol 0.32 0.48 0.62 0.58 0.71 0.29 0.42 0.46 0.28
Nitrogen insoluble in 80 per cent. alcohol, but soluble in 50 per cent alcohol 1.25 1.64 1.39 1.22 1.96 1.39 1.06 1.15 0.97
Nitrogen soluble in 80 per cent. alcohol 7.15 7.69 8.31 6.85 7.93 7.83 9.25 7.29 8.07
Total nitrogen 8.72 9.81 10.32 8.65 10.60 9.51 8.26 10.73 8.90 9.32
Creatine 4.82 3.88 6.19 6.21 5.03 4.11

The meat-extracts numbered 1 to 6 are from various factories in the colony. The substance insoluble in water in Nos. 1 and 4 was meat-fibre, while that in No. 6 was phosphate of lime. No. 7 was made from sheep-heads, and was sold as “stock.”

– 324 –

The high fat-content was mainly brain-fat, and, as this fat readily emulsified with water, it could not be readily removed from the liquor; this article is not now manufactured in this colony. No. 8 was taken from a trial lot of rabbit-extract, and, while this article is not manufactured in New Zealand, its analysis indicates the possibility of utilising this material.

For permission to publish these results I have to express my thanks to thwe general manager of the Christchurch Meat Company (Limited), in whose laboratory most of the work was carried out.

Previous Article | Table of Contents | Next Article