Novel Technologies for Flavor Formation in the Processing of Meat Products: A Review

Flavor is considered the most important attribute that affects the acceptability of meat products by consumers. The thermal processing is a major contributor to the formation of meat flavors. Conventional cooking methods usually result in a decrease in product quality (cooking loss, discoloration, tough texture, etc.) and an inadequate release of meat flavor. However, as consumers' desire for good flavors and high quality grows rapidly, more and more researchers are looking for emerging alternative technologies to achieve a rich flavor formation and a high nutritional value during thermal or non-thermal processing in meat products. This review discusses the principles, of flavor formation mechanisms, and applications of emerging technologies (microwave heating, ohmic heating, pulsed electric field, ultrasound and high pressure processing) currently available for thermal and non-thermal processing of meat products.