By Cindy Hazen, Contributing Editor
Prime rib. Filet mignon. These are the centerpieces of celebratory dinners. When properly cooked, the flavors of these meats can stand sublimely alone. But achieving this succulent richness in everyday dishes is challenging, especially when using inexpensive cuts of meat found in value-added and processed foods.
Meat flavor science 101
According to William Baugher, Ph.D., president and owner, Blue Mountain Enterprises, Inc., Kinston, NC, every food and flavor researcher has their own theory concerning the formation and composition of meat flavors. But from his perspective, there are three basic components for nearly all meat flavors: a fat component, a lean meat component and a gustatory component.
“The fat component supplies the species specificity and some processing characteristics, like frying or roasting,” says Baugher, noting that processors can mimic this with fat and/or vegetable reactions. The lean meat component “we mimic by the use of hydrolyzed vegetable protein and/or autolyzed yeast and their reaction products. Also, certain amino acid and/or sugar reactions are very beneficial in copying different lean meat fractions, particularly the degree of roasting or heating,” he says. The gustatory fraction of meat flavors is composed of blood and lymph. “Monosodium glutamate, nucleotides and other umami-type components are utilized to mimic the gustatory fraction,” he adds. Keeping these three components separate gives the company the ability to combine them in different combinations to produce “a nearly infinite variety of flavor experiences,” he says.
Chemically speaking, “meat is made of protein, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins, water and trace amounts of mineral salts,” explains Harshad Patel, Ph.D., technical director, savory flavor creation, Kerry Ingredients & Flavours, Beloit, WI. “During cooking, many of these components break down to produce a wide variety of volatile components, which further interact to develop even more-complex mixtures of flavorful compounds.”
Nonvolatile and volatile components contribute to the flavor of food. “Nonvolatile components provide basic tastes, such as sweet, sour, salty, bitterness and umami, while volatile compounds contribute to the overall flavor of food,” says Patel. “These volatile compounds are present in extremely small amounts. However, due to their low threshold, they impact consumers’ acceptance greatly.”
In meat, the sweetness is provided by some of the sugars and amino acids. The presence of organic acids, such as lactic acid and succinic acid, imparts sourness. Inorganic salts and sodium salt contribute to the salty perception. Various amino acids and peptides provide slight bitterness to the meat. Umami is due to the presence of glutamates, MSG, IMP (5′-inosine monophosphate) and GMP (5′-guanosine monophosphate) and other compounds.
“There are many peptides which contribute toward savory and meaty character,” Patel continues. “Protein or amino acids, via Strecker degradation, produce a number of carbonyls, ammonia and hydrogen sulfide―among other compounds.” He says that these―along with “breakdown products of carbohydrates, fats, nucleotides and vitamins, produce a wide array of volatile compounds. Over 1,000 compounds have been found in various meats. Protein is very important to the overall meat flavor, as it contributes to different taste attributes and, during cooking, produces a large number of flavorful volatile compounds, which are important for the overall appetizing aroma of meat. Most of these components present in meat contribute to the overall flavor of the meat, including fat. Small amounts of fat from meat provide specificity to the overall flavor of the meat species. Fat predominantly contributes to the fried, grilled and dripping type of flavor to most meats.”
