The amino acid composition of pork and lamb cuts.

The development of accurate, sensitive microbiological methods has permitted the acquisition of data on the amino acid content of foods and purified proteins as well as information on the amino acids in body fluids and on the metabolism of the amino acids by the test organisms. These advances have been summarized in several reviews (14). The data obtained thus far on meats indicate that the amino acid composition of the protein of the lean tissues of pork, beef, and lamb cuts is very similar, although some differences in the protein of muscle tissues and organ meats have been observed in the case of histidine and lysine (5, 6). The present study was undertaken to obtain further data on the amino acid content of different pork and lamb cuts, to evaluate different methods of analysis where indicated, and to obtain further information on the stability of the amino acids during cooking of the meats. The data obtained for leucine, valine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, threonine, histidine, lysine, arginine, methionine, and tryptophan are presented in this paper.