Beef bouillon

Many individual flavor chemicals which were isolated and identified from Maillard "side reactions" have been reported in the patent literature. It is evident from these patents that much work has been done to glean specific flavor chemicals from the complexities of the Maillard reaction. 3-Furyl alkyl sulfide, disulfide, and 0-chalcogenalkyl sulfide derivatives are claimed to provide bloody, meaty, and roasted notes to beef broth and beef products (64-66). 3-Methylcyclopent-2-en-l-one was declared for its flavor eiiEancement of beef bouillon (67). Firmenich claimed 2,6-dimethyl-2-octenal and its analogs as possessing meat flavor qualities (68). A method to produce disulfides for application to meat and savory flavors was patented (69). 

Fig. 6.4-40 Cubed and granulated beef bouillon, both with instant characteristics (courtesy Borden Foods/Wyler s, Columbus, OH/Chicago, IL, USA)...

Structural and Functional Characterization of a Multimodal Taste Enhancer in Beef Bouillon... 

Aimed at investigating taste enhancers in beef bouillon, taste activity-guided fractionation combined with the comparative taste dilution analysis led to the discovery of the presence of a sweet enhancing compound. Model Maillard reactions, spectroscopic and synthetic experiments revealed the previously unknown 1 - 1 -carboxyethyl)-5-hydroxy-2-... 

Beef bouillon was freshly prepared from beef purchased in a local shop in Germany. After cooling to 2°C, the bouillon was de-fatted by filtration, followed by extraction with ethyl acetate prior to sensory analysis and activity-... 

Aimed at removing proteins and high molecular weight, melanoidin-type material, the de-fatted beef bouillon was separated by means of ultrafiltration with a molecular weight cut-off of 1 kDa. Sensory analysis demonstrated that only the low molecular weight fraction (MW< IkDa) exhibited the typical complex, sweet, brothy taste. 

In order to analyze for sweet taste compounds in beef bouillon, the low molecular weight fraction was further separated by gel permeation... 

In order to analyze for putative taste modifiers enhancing the sweetness of the sugars present in beef bouillon, the fractions of another aliquot of the GPC fractionation were dissolved in the same amount of an aqueous 2-fold hyperthreshold sucrose solution. Each solution was stepwise diluted 1+1 with water until the sweetness threshold was reached. As this so-called Taste Dilution (TD) factor, obtained for each fraction, is related to its sweet taste activity in water, the ten GPC fractions were rated in their relative taste intensity (Fig. ure 1). 

Figure 1. GPC chromatogram (left side) and taste dilution (TD) factors for sweetness (right side) of the low molecular weight fraction (MW

The comparative taste dilution analysis revealed a high TD factor of 16 for sweetness in fraction III (Figure 1). As this fraction showed no sweetness in the absence of sucrose, this fraction was assumed to contain a reaction product enhancing the sweetness of the sucrose solution by a factor of eight. Because sweetness enhancing compounds were not yet reported in beef bouillon, the following identification experiments were focused on the sapid taste modifier present in GPC fraction III (Figure 1). 

Taking all these data into consideration, it can be concluded that (+)-( S)-alapyridaine present in beef bouillon does enhance not only the intensity of a single taste modality, but increases the human sensitivity for sweetness, saltiness and umami taste, thus illustrating alapyridaine as a naturally occurring, multivalent taste enhancer. 

About 10 years ago iV-(l-methyl-4-hydroxy-3-imidazolin-2,2-ylidene)alanine was isolated from beef broth and reported to impart a brothy, thick sour taste as characteristic taste impression of beef bouillon (7). Although this compounds has been suggested to be formed from the reaction between creatinine and lactic acid, neither the formation pathways, nor the human threshold concentration for the sensory activity of that molecule was yet confirmed. In order to answer the question as to whether this taste modulator might be formed by Maillard-type reactions of creatinine, the objective of the present investigation was to screen for taste modulating creatinine glycation products in heated creatinine/ribose solutions and to investigate the sensory activity of these derivatives. Furthermore, LC-MS/MS studies should be performed to verify the natural occurrence of the identified taste modulators in beef stock. 

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