The characteristic aroma of meat products greatly contributes to their overall acceptance. It is known that volatile compounds determine the aroma attributes and contribute most to the characteristic of meat aroma,
Raw meat is described as salty, metallic and rare (bloody) with slightly sweet aroma. It is weakly-flavored; however, it constitutes a rich source of compounds being precursors of volatile compounds. Raw fresh met has no flavor and attributed the flavor of cooked meat to amino acids liberated on cooking.
The volatile compounds responsible for meat flavors and odors develop during cooking by complex reactions between natural components in raw meat.
Ribose has been shown to be of particular importance for flavor generation, with a much greater effect than ribose-5-phosphate or thiamine, when the natural concentrations of these compounds are taken into account.
Chicken meat flavor is supposed to be affected by a number of ante- and post-mortem factors, including breed, diet, post-mortem ageing, method of cooking, etc. Additionally, chicken meat is more susceptible to quality deterioration mainly due to lipid oxidation with resulting off-flavors.
Polyunsaturated fat levels vary with species and are higher in poultry meat. Thus, meats like chicken are particularly susceptible to lipid oxidation. The oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids in meat causes the rapid development of meat rancidity and also affects color, nutritional quality and meat texture.
Chicken flavor
