Meat is highly desired by most people primarily because of its sensory qualities and nutritional value, and flavor is one of the most important sensory attributes of meat.
Raw meat has little desirable flavor, but cooked meat has a characteristic flavor attributable to the animal species and the temperature and type or method of cooking.
The chemistry of meat flavors is very complex and is based largely on the Maillard reaction between amino acids and sugars which occurs naturally in meat issue.
Meat flavor precursors are nonvolatile, water soluble and fat soluble constituents of meats. Components of meat flavor formed by the thermal breakdown of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates are considered as the major precursors for thermally generated meat aroma.
With meats once expects the difference in flavor which results from different methods of cooking and the degree of heat that is used e.g. roast beef id totally different from boiled beef.
The most important taste compounds in meat are inorganic salts (salty), hypoxanthine (bitter), sugars (sweet), organic acids (sour), nucleotides, amino acids and peptides.
It is necessary impose the selected flavor by the use appropriate imitation flavorings (e.g. roasts beef, fried chicken). Several of these imitation flavorings are now available.
Their correct application makes it possible to fabricate products which closely imitate natural meat in both flavor and texture.
The flavor of meat
