The contribution of chicken peptides towards the generation of meat flavor compounds via maillard reaction

This study established eight model reaction systems using chicken peptides, in order to investigate their contribution towards the generation of meaty flavor compounds. Chicken peptides caused an increase in pyrazine content (by 14744.1 μg/L), which imparted a nutty and roasted aroma to a Maillard reaction system, consequently increasing the meaty flavor of the system. In addition, studies with Cys-added Maillard reaction systems, such as the Cys-xylose system, revealed that chicken peptides significantly promoted the generation of sulfur-containing aroma-active compounds, such as thiophenes and furan mercaptans. The concentration of pyrazines in a chicken peptide-Leu-xylose system was higher than that in a combination of the Leu-xylose and peptide-xylose reaction systems; this further indicated that the addition of Leu could promote the generation of pyrazines in the chicken peptide-xylose system. The influence of pH on the reaction systems was also studied by building model systems with differing pH conditions. A low pH (< 5.0) condition in the Maillard reaction system containing chicken peptides was observed to inhibit the generation of pyrazines. Combined with the quantitative data of non-volatile compounds, chicken peptides distributed in the 200-500u region were concluded to contribute to the generation of a meaty flavor in food via a Maillard reaction at high pH. ©, 2015, South China University of Technology. All right reserved.