Evaluation of the Contribution of Flavor Volatiles to the Aroma of Beef by Surface Response Methodology

The contribution to beef aroma of some compounds previously identified in the flavor volatiles from cooked beef was estimated by surface response methodology. In general, heterocyclic compounds containing oxygen, nitrogen and/or sulfur and unsaturated alcohols gave higher predicted scores and had lower optimum concentrations than ketones, aldehydes, alkanes or saturated alcohols. It was further demonstrated that hydrophilic compounds are more likely to contribute to meat aroma than hydrophobic compounds, thus, verifying a more important role for water‐soluble compounds in contributing to meat flavor. On testing mixtures of compounds, the optimum concentrations were generally lower, but there was a greater range in maximum scores. Special significance is given to the fact that highest scoring two‐component mixture (2‐acetyl‐3‐methylpyrazine and H 2 S) resulted from combining the two single compounds that scored highest alone. Furthermore, the reaction mixture of H 2 S with 4‐hydroxy‐5‐methyl‐3(2H)‐furanone gave the highest predicted score in the entire study. Thus, results indicate that the surface response method offers promise for unraveling the complexity of the meat flavor system.