Release of Five Indicator Volatiles from a Model Meat Emulsion to Study Phase Contribution to Meat Aroma

Abstract

The objective of this work was to develop a model meat emulsion in order to study the release of aroma-related compounds from the lipid and aqueous phases. Hexanal, octanal and nonanal were taken as indicators of lipid oxidation whereas 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethyl pyrazine and 2-methyl pyrazine were Maillard reaction indicators. Four systems were studied: I) a model meat emulsion; II) phosphate buffer; III) phosphate buffer + myofibrillar proteins; and IV) canola oil. Release of indicator compounds from each of the studied systems was analyzed in the headspace. It was concluded that pyrazines mainly contributed to aroma in lipid systems and in protein solutions but not in emulsions and non protein aqueous systems. Hexanal, octanal, and nonanal were minor aroma contributors in lipid media, whereas hexanal and nonanal were released in small amount from protein emulsions. Conversely, octanal can be considered of an important aroma contributor in emulsions; the three aldehydes showed a high release from aqueous systems, with and without protein.

Keywords:

• Volatiles
• Meat aroma
• Meat emulsion
• Aldehydes
• Pyrazines
• Myofibrillar proteins

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Author Herrera-Jiménez thanks the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT), Mexico for a graduate scholarship; and Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana for financial support during the doctoral thesis writing.