The Maillard Reaction as Source of Meat Flavor Compounds in Dry Cured Meat Model Systems under Mild Temperature Conditions

Lei Li,Carmela Belloch,Mónica Flores

doi:10.3390/molecules26010223

Abstract

Flavor is amongst the major personal satisfaction indicators for meat products. The aroma of dry cured meat products is generated under specific conditions such as long ripening periods and mild temperatures. In these conditions, the contribution of Maillard reactions to the generation of the dry cured flavor is unknown. The main purpose of this study was to examine mild curing conditions such as temperature, pH and aw for the generation of volatile compounds responsible for the cured meat aroma in model systems simulating dry fermented sausages. The different conditions were tested in model systems resembling dry fermented sausages at different stages of production. Three conditions of model system, labeled initial (I), 1st drying (1D) and 2nd drying (2D) and containing different concentrations of amino acid and curing additives, as well as different pH and aw values, were incubated at different temperatures. Changes in the profile of the volatile compounds were investigated by solid phase microextraction and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (SPME-GS-MS) as well as the amino acid content. Seventeen volatile compounds were identified and quantified in the model systems. A significant production of branched chain volatile compounds, sulfur, furans, pyrazines and heterocyclic volatile compounds were detected in the model systems. At the drying stages, temperature was the main factor affecting volatile production, followed by amino acid concentration and aw. This research demonstrates that at the mild curing conditions used to produce dry cured meat product volatile compounds are generated via the Maillard reaction from free amino acids. Moreover, in these conditions aw plays an important role promoting formation of flavor compounds.

Highlights

Flavor is among the most important quality indicators of meat products
Water activity and pH (Figures S1 and S2 Supplementary Material, respectively) were measured during the incubation of sausage model systems at mild conditions (25 and 37 ◦C), and both parameters remained stable from the first day of incubation until 35 d
The results from our experiments demonstrated that model systems that simulate the intermediate processing stages of dry fermented sausages, 1st drying (1D) and 2nd drying (2D), have different volatile profiles than the model simulating the initial conditions (Table 2)

Summary

Introduction

Flavor compounds produced during the processing of meat products are generated through different mechanisms including the Maillard reaction, Strecker degradation, lipid oxidative reactions, degradation of thiamine, ribonucleotides and carbohydrates, as well as microbial metabolism [1,2]. The contribution of these reactions to meat flavor depends on the manufacture conditions applied during processing. Thiophenes are derived mainly from the Maillard reaction between cysteine and ribose [5] Amino acids such as cysteine and glycine are of utmost importance as precursors of sulfur-containing meaty compounds [8,9]. Meat post-mortem conditioning increases the formation of Maillard reaction-derived meaty flavor compounds by the presence of ribose, methionine and cysteine [10]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion