BMP: a flavor enhancing peptide found naturally in beef. Its chemical synthesis, descriptive sensory analysis, and some factors affecting its usefulness

Abstract Through the millennia, muscle tissue from a variety of terrestrial, airborne, and aquatic animals, has been one of the most highly prized foods in the human diet. Meat is typically eaten because people like the taste of it. Recently, a small linear peptide was found in meat that elicits a savory taste. The peptide was named BMP because it is found in beef (B), and it enhances the meaty (M) flavor of the beef, and is a peptide (P). Because of the its ability to enhance the meat's flavor, large quantities of the BMP were synthesized to ascertain testing the its flavor enhancing characteristics and to study some of its physicochemical properties. The peptide was found to be similar to monosodium glutamate (MSG) in its ability to enhance the flavor of a beef gravy yet it did not present the salty taste of MSG. BMP was also shown to be resistant to the direct, but not the indirect, effect of lipid oxidation.