Natural Products To Provide Flavor, Color, and Other Qualities

by Kevin B. Hicks, Research Leader, William F. Fett, Lead Scientist, Marshall Fishman, Lead Scientist, and Gerald M. Sapers, Research Food Technologist, Eastern Regional Research Center, ARS, USDA, Philadelphia, PA, and Arthur M. Spanier, Research Physiologist, Southern Regional Research Center, ARS, USDA, New Orleans, LA.

Consumers and food processors alike are demonstrating a significant and growing interest in foods containing naturally derived flavors, colors, and properties. Around the United States, scientists from USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) are making new and exciting discoveries in each of these important areas.

Enhancing Natural Flavor and Tenderness in Beef (Here's the Beef)

While people have enjoyed the delicious flavor of freshly cooked beef for centuries, only recently have the molecules responsible for the beefy taste been identified. Scientists at the ARS Southern Regional Research Center (SRRC) in New Orleans have recently developed a naturally occurring and nutritious flavor enhancer that could be used to make your steak taste even "beefier." This flavor enhancer, isolated from beef and called BMP for "Beefy Meaty Peptide," consists of eight linked amino acids. BMP appears to be produced during the aging of meat after slaughter. During aging, proteins in muscle tissue are naturally broken down by enzymes into smaller pieces called peptides.

Large-scale production of BMP is necessary if it is to be used as a flavor enhancer. But before such production is possible, scientists must find the protein from which BMP originates. Once that crucial protein has been identified, it may be possible to breed cattle for meat having a richer beef flavor. Information on the origin of BMP could also help the meat industry find slaughter methods or feeding regimens that stimulate BMP production. Alternatively, BMP could be synthesized by chemical or biochemical means.

Meanwhile, other researchers at SRRC have devised a way to halt meat-flavor deterioration. Much of the loss of fresh meat flavor is linked to oxidative reactions (reactions that occur in the presence of oxygen). In order to prevent loss in flavor quality, it is essential to prevent oxidation, particularly of fat in beef. A derivative of chitin the fibrous portion of shells from crab, shrimp, lobster, and crawfish has been found to retard fat oxidation and the resulting off-flavors in meat products. The chitin derivative does this by binding to iron, a mineral responsible for many oxidative reactions. However, studies have not yet determined if this process alters the bioavailability of iron. A recent ARS patent on the use of this derivative has drawn interest from industries that prepare institutional, airline, or other pre-prepared foods. The technique, however, must receive Food and Drug Administration approval before it is commercialized.

In related research from the Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, ARS, at Clay Center, Nebraska, advances have been made in speeding up the natural tenderization process during the aging of beef. The scientists determined which natural enzyme system breaks down muscle fiber during aging. With the help of calcium chloride, this enzyme system can cut the time needed for tenderization from 2 weeks to just 24 hours. Calcium chloride is an approved food additive and is also a natural component of beef. Unfortunately, there is not enough calcium present naturally to produce the level of tenderness that consumers prefer, so it is necessary to inject cuts of beef with calcium to boost enzyme activity and accelerate the tenderization process.

Physiologist Arthur Spanier (left) and chemist John Bland compare the relationship of structure to flavor in peptides. Proteins in muscle tissue are broken down naturally by enzymes called peptides. Once the protein that is crucial in aging beef has been identified, it may be possible to breed cattle for meat having a richer beef flavor. Scott Bauer/USDA 91BW2208-15

Natural Colorants for Processed Foods and Beverages

When naturally occurring pigments cannot be used because of high cost, scarcity, or instability, many foods and beverages are colored with synthetic food dyes. This use of food colorants is subject to approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In recent years, the safety of certain synthetic dyes has been questioned, and several colorants have been banned.