Water-soluble precursors of beef flavour. Part II: Effect of post-mortem conditioning

• Published in: Meat science 2008-06, Vol.79 (2), p.270-277
• Main Authors: Koutsidis, G., Elmore, J.S., Oruna-Concha, M.J., Campo, M.M., Wood, J.D., Mottram, D.S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amino acids; Beef; Biological and medical sciences; Flavour; Food industries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Inosine 5′-monophosphate; Meat and meat product industries; Post-mortem conditioning; Sugars; Water-soluble flavour precursors
• ISSN: 0309-1740; 1873-4138
• DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2007.09.010

Changes in glycolytic metabolites, nucleotide degradation products, free amino acids and other amino compounds were monitored in beef muscle ( M. longissimus lumborum), stored for 21 days at 4 °C, in order to evaluate how post-mortem conditioning may affect flavour formation in beef. The major effects observed in sugar-related substances were the dephosphorylation of the phosphates of glucose, fructose and mannose, to yield their free sugars, as well as the breakdown of inosine 5′-monophosphate, to give a sixfold increase in ribose. Total reducing sugars increased by only 15% during conditioning, while glycogen levels remained unchanged from 2 days post-slaughter. Free amino acids increased during conditioning, particularly between days 7 and 14. Phenylalanine, methionine, lysine, leucine and isoleucine were the amino acids showing the greatest increase with conditioning time, with methionine, in particular, showing a sevenfold increase during the conditioning period. The effects of these precursor changes on cooked beef flavour are discussed.