Biltong relatively mild concentration of coriander oil (1.6%). In the two strains that were not effectively killed, "Bacillus cereus" and "Enterococcus faecalis", the coriander oil reduced their growth significantly. The need for food preservation in the new colony was pressing. Building up herds of livestock took a long time, but with game in abundance in South Africa, traditional methods were called upon to preserve the meat of large African animals such as the eland in a warm climate. Iceboxes and refrigerators had not been invented yet. Biltong as it is today evolved from the dried meat carried by the wagon-travelling Voortrekkers,
Meat of infection with and decomposition by bacteria and fungi. Meat is important in economy and culture, even though its mass production and consumption has been determined to pose risks for human health and the environment. Many religions have rules about which meat may or may not be eaten, and vegetarian people abstain from eating meat because of concerns about the ethics of eating meat or about the effects of meat production or consumption. The word "meat" comes from the Old English word "mete", which referred to food in general. The term is related to "mad" in Danish, "mat" in Swedish