Flavour formation in meat and meat products: a review

The characteristic flavour of cooked meat derives from thermally induced reactions occurring during heating, principally the Maillard reaction and the degradation of lipid. Both types of reaction involve complex reaction pathways leading to a wide range of products, which account for the large number of volatile compounds found in cooked meat. Heterocyclic compounds, especially those containing sulfur, are important flavour compounds produced in the Maillard reaction providing savoury, meaty, roast and boiled flavours. Lipid degradation provides compounds which give fatty aromas to cooked meat and compounds which determine some of the aroma differences between meats from different species. Compounds formed during the Maillard reaction may also react with other components of meat, adding to the complexity of the profile of aroma compounds. For example, aldehydes and other carbonyls formed during lipid oxidation have been shown to react readily with Maillard intermediates. Such interactions give rise to additional aroma compounds, but they also modify the overall profile of compounds contributing to meat flavour. In particular, such interactions may control the formation of sulfur compounds, and other Maillard-derived volatiles, at levels which give the optimum cooked meat flavour characteristics.