Warmed-over flavour in cooked sliced beef Chemical analysis in relation to sensory evaluation

Abstract

A technique for analysing the extent of warmed-over flavour (WOF) in cooked beef based on autofluorescence of the extracted lipid fraction has been studied. In a chill storage experiment with reheated, oven-cooked beef, the method has been used together with the commonly used determination of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) by extraction, to measure the development of WOF. The objective measurements were correlated to sensory evaluations showing that the TBARS and the fluorescence methods are each suitable for monitoring the development of WOF in reheated cooked beef during storage. However, determination of TBARS was found to agree more precisely with the sensory evaluation than the fluorescence analysis. The impression of WOF smell becomes saturated for high TBARS values and high concentrations of fluorescent oxidation products, and constitutes an example of Weber-Fechner's law describing sensory impression as a logarithmic function of the triggering compound(s). A practical implication of this result is that a doubling of the TBARS value corresponds to a 30% increase in the degree of WOF.