145 Chemical evaluation of cattle and camel meat Edris, A., Hassan, M., Saltout, F. and El-Hosseny, S. Food Control Dept., Fac. Vet. Med., Benha University A B S T R A C T A total of 120 random samples of beef and camel meat (60 0f each) were collected from 3 different abattoirs namely Elbagour, Menouf and Shibin-Elkom (40 0f each) located in Menofia governorate. for evaluation of their chemical quality. The chemical examination of beef samples revealed that the mean values of pH, TVN (mg%) and TBA (mg/ Kg) were 5.69 ± 0.01, 7.63 ± 0.49 & 0.18 ± 0.01 for Elbagour abattoir, 5.62 ± 0.01, 5.89 ± 0.40 & 0.11± 0.01 for Menouf abattoir and 5.54 ± 0.01, 4.15 ± 0.32 and 0.06 ± 0.01 for Shibin Elkom abattoir, respectively. While, the mean values of pH, TVN (mg%) and TBA (mg/ Kg) in the examined samples of camel meat were 5.75 ± 0.01, 9.35 ± 0.57 & 0.13 ±0.01for Elbagour abattoir, 5.67 ± 0.01, 6.48 ± 0.39 & 0.07 ±0.01 for Menouf abattoir and 5.61 ± 0.01, 4.97 ± 0.25 and 0.04 ±0.01for Shibin Elkom abattoir, respectively. KEY WORDS: meat, beef, camel, TVN, TBA. (BVMJ-25 [2]: 145 -150, 2013) 1. I N T R O D U C T I O N eat is considered an important source of proteins and essential amino acids. Due to this rich composition, it offers a highly favorable environment for the growth of pathogenic bacteria.The microbiological contamination of carcasses occurs mainly during processing and handling, such as skinning, evisceration, storage and distribution at slaughterhouses and retail establishments [9]. Beef constitutes about 36.88 % of the total red meat produced in Egypt compared to 6.63 % for camel meat, [19]. The growing demand for meat was challenged the live stocks and meat producers to seek ways for minimizing the gap between the production and consumption of meat by paying more attention toward meat animals other than cattle e.g. buffalo and camel.At the same time, the national government enables the consumers to receive maximal palatability benefits at the lowest cost [7]. pH values of meat under any condition should not exceed 6.4, otherwise it must be considered unfit for human [10]. Meat with a pH below 5.8 has a pale color, however, the color of meat with higher pH is too dark and has a great risk on human health. Therefore, the ideal pH for meat is between 5.3 and 5.8 and the meat is marginally spoiled at pH 6.6 after which it is markedly spoiled [18]. The increase in TVN value in the meat might be attributed to the breakdown of protein as a result of activity of different microorganisms and their proteolytic enzymes [12]. It is of great importance to mention that TBA values could be a useful quality index for the assessment of rancidity during the storage of lipid rich food.Therefore, the present study was planned out to throw light on the chemical quality of cattle and camel meat through measuring their pH,TVN and TBA values . M BENHA VETERINARY MEDICAL JOURNAL, VOL. 25, NO. 2:145-150, DECEMBER 2013