Association\nbetween Complex Flavor Development and\nChanges in Meat Structure during Cooking: Histological Imaging Analysis

We used histological imaging to visualize tissue structure\nchanges\nin the intramuscular fat (IMF) region of beef during roasting. Despite\ndifferent beef cuts and recipes, heated IMF always formed “channels”\nof beef juices/oil, allowing the aqueous phase and oil phase flavor\nreactions to converge. Oil droplets, which facilitate the interaction\nbetween lipid oxidation and the Maillard reaction, were observed in\nthe intramuscular juices/oil of roasted beef rib meat and well-done\nribeye steaks. Images taken from ribeye steaks at different “doneness”\nshowed that oil droplets started appearing in well-done steaks. In\ncontrast, the structure of cooked IMF in medium and medium-well steaks\nwas more conducive to independent lipid oxidation and Maillard reactions.\nThese findings suggest that the flavor reaction in meat during cooking\nis developed in a concurrent and multistep way, regulated by biological\nstructure changes, which can be critical for producing authentic meat\nflavor.