Beef Extract
Beef extract is the concentrated water soluble fraction of lean beef, produced by cooking meat or meat trimmings in water and evaporating the resulting broth to a paste or powder. It is defined by its composition rather than as a single chemical, and is dominated by free amino acids, small peptides, nucleotides including inosine monophosphate, creatine and creatinine, organic acids, minerals and the Maillard reaction products formed during concentration.
Functionally it supplies savoury depth. The glutamate and nucleotide content give it a pronounced umami character that behaves synergistically with added monosodium glutamate and ribonucleotides, while the Maillard fraction contributes the roasted, brothy top notes that distinguish it from a simple amino acid blend. It also carries colour, which is why it darkens the systems it is added to.
Two physical forms are traded. Paste is a dark brown, highly viscous semi solid at roughly seventy five to eighty percent solids, and powder is a free flowing light to dark brown solid obtained by spray or vacuum drying the same concentrate. Both are freely soluble in hot water, hygroscopic, and prone to caking in the powder form, so the powder is often carried on maltodextrin or salt and packed with a moisture barrier.
We source bulk Beef Extract from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Guangdong. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
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- Function
- Plant extract
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Light to dark brown free flowing powder |
| Odour and Taste | Characteristic cooked beef, savoury, no burnt or rancid notes |
| Solubility | Completely soluble in hot water, solution clear to slightly hazy |
| Total Solids | ≥ 95.0% |
| Total Nitrogen | ≥ 8.0% (dry basis) |
| Amino Nitrogen | ≥ 2.5% (dry basis) |
| Sodium Chloride | ≤ 5.0% (unsalted grade) |
| Fat | ≤ 1.0% |
| Loss on Drying | ≤ 5.0% |
| Total Ash | ≤ 20.0% |
| pH (2% solution) | 5.5 to 6.5 |
| Lead | ≤ 1.0 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | ≤ 0.5 mg/kg |
| Total Plate Count | ≤ 10,000 cfu/g |
| Yeast and Mould | ≤ 100 cfu/g |
| Escherichia coli | Negative in 1 g |
| Salmonella | Negative in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
The primary grades follow total solids and nitrogen. Paste is specified at 75 to 80 percent total solids with a total nitrogen figure of around 8 to 10 percent on a dry basis, while spray dried powder runs at 95 percent solids and above. Both are quoted alongside a salt figure, since salted and unsalted versions are separate items and the salted grades are used where the extract doubles as a seasoning carrier.
Beyond the base grades, the trade separates extracts made from meat alone, from meat and bone, and from bone alone. The last is a distinct and cheaper product with a different amino acid profile. Enzymatically hydrolysed grades, in which a protease step is added to raise the free amino acid content and the yield, are traded separately from purely thermally produced extracts because the flavour profile differs and the labelling may too. Halal and Kosher certified lots are made on dedicated lines, and non genetically modified, no added monosodium glutamate and clean label versions are all traded as distinct specifications.
Applications
- Bouillon cubes and stock powders, where it supplies the meat character that salt and yeast extract alone cannot
- Wet and dry soup bases, contributing both savoury depth and brown colour to the finished broth
- Gravies and sauce concentrates, where the paste form dissolves into the roux or starch system on heating
- Savoury snack seasonings applied as a topical dust on crisps, extruded snacks and nuts
- Ready meals and retort products, dosed to restore the meat notes lost to sterilisation
- Processed meat products such as sausage and burger mixes, used to reinforce the cooked meat profile
- Instant noodle sachets, where a low dose of powder carries a large part of the perceived meatiness
- Pet food palatants, applied as a coating on kibble to raise acceptance
- Microbiological culture media, in which beef extract is a long established nitrogen and growth factor source
China Manufacturers of Beef Extract
Top Beef Extract manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
In the United States, beef extract is a meat food product and falls under the jurisdiction of the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the Department of Agriculture rather than solely the Food and Drug Administration, so it is produced in an inspected establishment and labelled according to the meat and poultry labelling rules. It is not a food additive and needs no additive listing, and meat extracts and hydrolysates are also recognised as flavouring materials by the Flavour and Extract Manufacturers Association.
In the European Union beef extract is a food ingredient, not a food additive, so no E number applies, and it is declared on the ingredient list by name. Production is subject to the hygiene rules for products of animal origin, meaning the establishment must be approved and the material must carry an identification mark. Consignments entering the Union require a veterinary health certificate and must come from an approved country and establishment. Bovine material is additionally subject to the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy rules, which govern specified risk material and the sourcing of raw material. Codex has no commodity standard specific to beef extract, and JECFA has issued no additive specification, since the material is a food rather than an additive.
Manufacturing Process
Lean beef trimmings, or the meat and bone stock left from primal processing, are ground and loaded into extraction vessels with water. The mixture is cooked at controlled temperature, which denatures the muscle protein and releases the soluble fraction into the liquid phase. Fat rises and is separated by centrifugation and skimming, and the insoluble protein solids are removed by decanting, screening and a further centrifugal step. Where a higher yield and a more amino acid rich profile are wanted, a protease is dosed into the slurry before or during cooking and the reaction is stopped by heat before separation.
The clarified broth is filtered, then concentrated in a multiple effect or falling film evaporator under vacuum, which removes water at low temperature and limits the darkening that would occur at atmospheric boiling. Concentration continues to the target solids, at which point the material is either standardised, hot filled as paste into drums or pails and cooled, or taken forward to spray drying, usually with a carrier, to give a free flowing powder. Both forms are pasteurised by the heat of the process and are checked for microbiological compliance before release.
