UNRAVELING THE SECRET OF MEAT FLAVOR

Meat flavor arises from the complex interactions among amino acids, pe ptides, sugars, thiamine, metabolites of nucleotides, lipids and produ cts of lipid oxidation. Previous research on meat flavor has shown num erous volatile compounds to be involved in meat aroma but the identiti es of specific mixtures of compounds contributing to individual meat f lavors are not fully known. Factors that exert significant influence o n meat flavors such as the nutritional status of the animal, the anima l species and the temperature at which the meat is cooked are discusse d. Lastly, it is suggested that the analytical procedures and the inte rpretation of the data arising from such analyses of meat flavor volat iles may be hindering rather than contributing to our understanding of meat flavor.