Colour and Cooking: Globins: Colour in Meat

Appears in

Published 2014

About

Globins, which provide the red colour in meat, are examples of chelation. They are numerous, and each has a name which consists of -globin with a prefix attached. Some explanation of how one globin changes into another, and so on, promotes understanding of the colour changes in meat, whether fresh, cured, or cooked.

In the meat of a dead animal, some of the colour comes from the red haemoglobin in the blood, but most comes from the myoglobin in the muscle tissue. Fresh myoglobin combines with oxygen from the air to give bright red oxymyoglobin, which is what the surface of recently killed meat exhibits. Inside such meat the unoxygenated myoglobin remains purple.

Become a Premium Member to access this page

Unlimited, ad-free access to hundreds of the world’s best cookbooks
Over 150,000 recipes with thousands more added every month
Recommended by leading chefs and food writers
Powerful search filters to match your tastes
Create collections and add reviews or private notes to any recipe
Swipe to browse each cookbook from cover-to-cover
Manage your subscription via the My Membership page

Already a member?

Monthly plan

Annual plan

'Brilliant app for foodies'

'Spotify of cookbooks'

Part of

Colour and Cooking

The licensor does not allow printing of this title