Department of Food Science, National Taiwan Ocean University, 2 Peining Rd., Keelung, 202, Taiwan, R.O.C.

(Received: January 23, 2002; Accepted: April 11, 2002)

ABSTRACT

   Ten commercial meat essences of chicken, beef, clam and eel contained the moisture ranged from 91.1 to 97.5%, protein from 0.6 to 7.8%, and ash from 0.3 to 1.7%. Freshwater clam and hard clam essences had a much higher level of glycogen than other products. The total amount of free amino acids (FAA) in six chicken essences varied from 150 to 725 mg/100 g. Taurine was the dominant FAA and accounted for 16~30% of the total FAA. Though beef essence had the highest level of total FAA among ten products, its taurine was accounted for only about 2%. Taurine in freshwater clam essence was also very low, but a high level of ornithine was found. Anserine in six chicken essences, ranging from 36 to 437 mg/100 g, was higher than carnosine, ranging from 8 to 162 mg/100 g. In beef essence, however, anserine was far less than carnosine. These dipeptides in both clam essences were not detectable, and only a small amount of carnosine was present in eel essence. Another dipeptide, balenine, was found only in a chicken essence. The amount of low-molecular-weight peptides in chicken essences, ranged from 1,187 to 3,296 mg/100 g, was more than the level of FAA in each product. Both clam essences contained a much lower amount of small peptides than other products. Consequently, hard clam essence was the only product with lower level of peptides than its FAA.