Sugars beef flavor

The formation of pyrazines in foods has been reviewed extensively by Mega and Sizer (50). Temperature and pH are very important factors in the formation of specific pyrazines. Forty-two pyrazines have been identified in meat from various sources by these authors. MacLeod and Seyyedain-Ardebili (20) listed 49 pyrazines found in beef by various investigators. Ching (19) identified 28 pyrazines in her studies of sugar-amine reactions simulating beef flavor. 

In 1986, a review of the analysis of meat volatiles by Shahidi and colleagues (10) listed 995 compounds that have been found in meat. Mechanistic studies that have combined various amino acids and sugars have predicted the presence of even more compounds that have yet to be observed (77). The formation of flavor-producing compounds results from the complex interaction of numerous precursors and treatments. Some factors involved in beef flavor production are diet, postmortem aging, storage time and temperature, and cooking method. Additionally, it has recently been shown by Block et al. (72, 13) and others (74) that the method used to analyze flavor compounds may, in the process, create new flavor compounds. 

Lipid decomposition volatiles. Reactions of sugar and amino acids give rise to odor profiles that are, at best, common to all cooked or roasted meats. The water soluble materials extracted from chicken, pork, or beef give reasonably similar meat flavor. To develop a species specific aroma one needs to study the lipid fraction and the volatiles produced from those lipids. The work of Hornstein and Crowe (10) reported that the free fatty acids and carbonyls generated by heating will establish the specific species flavor profiles. 

The flavor industry has introduced, over the years, methods of developing meat flavors by processing appropriate precursors under carefully controlled reaction conditions. As a result, meat flavors having a remarkably genuine meat character in the beef, chicken and pork tonalities are available for the food industry. It has repeatedly been stated that the Maillard reaction is particularly important for the formation of meat flavors. However, of the 600 volatile compounds isolated from natural beef aroma, only 12% of them find their origin in sugar/amino acid interactions and of these 70% are pyrazine derivatives. 

The flavor of freshly prepared and canned beef stew using 0.25 and 0.5% of sugar was found to be improved. In the blended flavor, saltiness, a starchy note, and onion flavor were reduced. 

This interdependency of reactions has been most studied in meats, or model meat reaction systems [42,72,81]. Wasserman [82] was amongst the first to find that the lean portion of the meat supplied the meaty, brothy character and the fat provided the species character much of which is due to lipid/Maillard interactions. This knowledge has long been used in the manufacture of process products (meat flavors). Meat process flavors contain approximately the same sugars and amino acids for the basic meat flavor but contain different fats to give the unique pork, beef, or chicken notes. 

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