Flavour of meat

SKIBSTED L H, MiKKELSEN A and BERTELSEN G (1998) Lipid-derived off-flavours in meat, in Shahidi F Flavour of Meat, Meat Products and Seafoods, Blackie Academic Professional, London, 217-56. 

Shahidi, F. 1994. Assessment of lipid oxidation and off-flavour development in meat and meat products. In Flavour of Meat and Meat Products (F. Shahidi, ed.) pp. 247-266. Chapman and Hall, Glasgow, U K. 

Cloves are best used whole. The flavour deteriorates quickly once it is powdered. Whole and ground cloves are used to enhance the flavour of meat and rice dishes. They are used widely in curry powders and masalas. In North Indian cuisine, cloves are used in almost every sauce or side dish made, mostly mixed with other spices. In South India, they find extensive use in biriyanis to enhance the flavour of the rice. They are highly valued in medicine as a carminative and stimulant. Cloves are said to be a natural anthelmintic. 

The tenderness and flavour of meat can be greatly influenced by the treatment of the animal immediately prior to, and after slaughter, and the conditions under whieh rigor mortis has occurred. The best meat quality seems to be assoeiated with a minimum rate of disappearance of ATP after the death of the animal, and maintenance of pH 5.0-5.5. 

Sodium oligopolyphosphates, when present in sausages, increase the stability of the fat emulsion, and quantities -0.5% will reduce the separation of fat during cooking [45]. The flavour of meat is influenced by the presence of inosinic acid (inosine monophosphate, IMP) (12.19a). After animal slaughter, the amount already present tends to increase since it can be formed from AMP which is a breakdown product of ATP (Chapter 11.3). 

Of particular importance are glutamic acid and sodium hydrogen glutamate. This salt is the active form that shows the taste referrd to as umami (see Section 8.3.4). At concentrations of 0.05-0.8%, in which it is added as an additive, it amplifies and enhances the flavour of meat and vegetable products, such as soups and sauces, meat and vegetable preserves, tomato juice, ketchup, mayonnaise and other products. 

SHAHIDI F and PEGG R (1994) Hexanal as an indicator of meat flavour deterioration, /Food Lipids, 1, 177-86. 

Cameron N D, Enser M, Nute G R, Whittington F M, Penman J C, Fisken A C, Perry A M and Wood J D (2000), Genotype with nutrition interaction on fatty acid composition of intramuscular fat and the relationship with flavour of pig meat , Meat Sci, 55, 187-195. 

Glutamic acid and its salts (especially the sodium salt) enhance the flavour of many convenience foods. Bejaars et al. (1996) described the determination of free glutamic acid in soups, meat products and Chinese food. The method involves hot water extraction of test portions followed by filtration and dilution. The extracts were treated with N,N-dimethyl-2-mercapto-ethyl-ammonium chloride and o-phtaldialdehyde to convert glutamic acid into a stable fluorescent, l-alkylthio-2-alkyhsoindole. Homocysteic acid was used as the internal standard. Separation was made on a Ci8 column, eluted with... 

The most important flavour compound in raw onions is thiopropanal-S-ox-ide, the lachrymatory factor [145,146]. Other important flavour compounds are 3,4-dimethyl-2,5-dioxo-2,5-dihydrothiophene and alkyl alkane thiosulfonates such as propyl methanethiosulfonate and propyl propanethiosulfonate with a distinct odour of freshly cut onions [35, 36, 147]. Various thiosulfinates that have a sharp and pungent odour may also contribute to the flavour of onions. These compounds, however, are rapidly decomposed to a mixture of alkyl and alkenyl monosulfides, disulfides and trisulfides (Scheme 7.3) of which dipropyl disulfide, methyl ( )-propenyl disulfide, propyl ( )-propenyl disulfide, dipropyl trisulfide and methyl propyl trisulfide are the most important contributors to the aroma of raw and cooked onions (Table 7.5, Fig. 7.6) [148-150]. Recently, 3-mercapto-2-methylpentan-l-ol was identified in raw and cooked onions eliciting intense meat broth, sweaty, onion and leek-like odours [142, 151]. 

Martinez, O., Salmeron, J., Guillen, M.D., and Casas, C. 2004. Texture profile analysis of meat products treated with commercial liquid smoke flavourings. Food Control 15, 457-461. 

In China, the Three Yellow (3Y) breed is popular for chicken meat production (Yang and Jiang, 2005). The 3Y designation refers to the yellow feathers, yellow skin and yellow shanks which are popular in Southern China. Yellow is a traditional symbol of fortune and luck in most parts of China. Conversely, the colour white is considered unlucky. The 3Y is considered a slow-growing breed in that it takes 100 days to reach a market weight of 1.2-1.5 kg. The meat is harvested close to sexual maturation and is considered to be more flavourful than meat from conventional broilers, as the meat is firm but not tough. 

As the final pH of meat increases above the normal range of 5.6-5.8, there is a decrease in meat flavour.101102 The reaction between norfuraneol and cysteine, which plays a crucial role in meat flavour, is very sensitive to pH.103 At pH 4.5, the major volatile products are mercaptoketones, furan- and thiophenethiols, 2-methyltetra-hydrothiophenone, and 3,5-dimethyl-l,2-dithiolan-4-one, whereas, at pH 6.5, these compounds were detected, if at all, only in traces, except for the thiophenone however, pyrroles, pyrazines, thiazoles, and oxazoles had achieved prominence. The sensory observations are a clear reflection of such differences. Similar effects of pH had been found for the ribose-cysteine and other systems.104... 

G. MacLeod, The scientific and technological basis of meat flavours, in Developments in Food Flavours, G. G. Birch and M. G. Lindley (eds), Elsevier Applied Science, London, 1986, 191-223. 

Most studies identify three critical properties in the quality of meat and its products. These dimensions are toughness/tendemess, juiciness/dryness, and of course flavour. The first two of these are obviously materials properties related to the architecture of the product, and its subsequent fracture and failure modes. Attempts to match these attributes to simple physical tests proves successful provided that the range of specimens have similar architecture. 

Fig. 3.15 Enzymatically mediated manufacturing of meat flavour 3.2.2.4.3 Seasonings - HVP...

Savoury process flavourings are widely used in culinary products to boost meat flavour (beef, chicken, pork, lamb, veal) or other notes (fish, seafood, vegetable). The development of meat-like process flavours started in the 1950s and the first patents were published in 1960. To date meat-like and other savoury flavours still represent the largest volumes of all process flavourings produced. 

Baines, D.A., Mlotkiewicz, J.A. The chemistry of meat flavour. In Recent advances in the chemistry of meat, Bailey, A.J. (Ed.), Royal Society of Chemistry, London, 1984, 119-164. 

Jaeggi, K. Process for the manufacture of meat flavours. US Patent, 1973,3,761,287, assigned to Givaudan. 

Application of natural aqueous smoke flavourings to meat is done in large part for the purpose of producing smoked colour. Smoke solutions are applied to the surface of meat where smoked product colour is desired. The carbonyls are known to be the initiators of a brown smoked colour. While aqueous smoke solutions are innately a reddish brown colour, virtually none of this colour is imparted to the product through a staining effect. Rather, carbonyls first react with amines to produce Schiff bases which eventually end up as mealnoidins through complex, multiple-step reactions which are driven by heat and dehydration. 

The basic taste of meat is a balanced combination of salty, slightly sour and sweet impressions with metallic, typical meaty tastes represented by mineral salts, amino acids, oligopeptides and the umami -taste of the ribonucleotides (disodium-5-inosi-nate, disodium-5-guanylate) and MSG (monosodiumglutamate). The flavour can be differentiated by ... 

Figure 5.49 represents a possible scheme for illustrating the roles of different kitchen aids with regard to the overall flavour of a dish. Bouillons are added, often early during the preparation of a dish, to define its basic taste direction, its taste foundation. While they deliver a taste direction like chicken, meat or vegetable, they are applied to a large range of dishes. 

A wide range of flavouring substances is used in powdery or pasty convenience foods. Reaction flavours based on hydrolysed plant proteins, natural flavours, artificial flavours and meat, vegetable, yeast and spice extracts are added to the products to generate the desired flavour profile. The most common savoury flavour types used for dehydrated convenience foods are chicken, beef and vegetable flavours. However various other flavour types are used while formulating dehydrated convenience foods. Amongst them are mutton, crawfish, fish, wine and various spice and herb flavours. 

Kosher laws have consequences which extend far beyond the worlds of meat, poultry, and fish. The inclusion of food additives and flavourings, increased food processing, and the use of more sophisticated machinery have made the observance of kashruth more complex than ever. To ensure that proper handling has taken place, rabbinical supervision is required, and a system of marking and of certifying materials is used. [58-60]. 

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