Influence of fat on the flavour of an emulsified meat product

Abstract The effect of fat (triglyceride) content on the flavour of an emulsified meat product was investigated using frankfurters containing 5%, 12% or 30% fat. Profiling studies indicated that decreasing the fat content significantly increased the intensity of spicy, peppery and smoky flavours. Terpenes and phenols, some of which contributed to these flavours, were collected in greater quantities from the low-fat frankfurters by static headspace and ‘nose-space’ analysis but not by Likens-Nickerson extraction. Thus, the differences in flavour may be explained by the more rapid release of lypophilic terpenes, phenols and other compounds when the proportion of fat is reduced.