Natural Meat Extract
Natural meat extract is the concentrated aqueous fraction of cooked meat, produced by extracting beef, pork or poultry tissue in water and evaporating the stock to a dark paste or powder. Its composition is dominated by free amino acids, small peptides, creatine and creatinine, nucleotides including 5'-inosinate, organic acids and mineral salts, with the insoluble muscle protein and most of the fat removed.
In food it functions as a savoury base rather than a top note. The glutamate and nucleotide content give umami taste and synergistic enhancement, the peptide fraction contributes thickness and persistence on the palate, and the reaction precursors present allow further roast character to develop during downstream cooking. It is used where an ingredient declaration of beef extract or meat extract is preferred to a flavour enhancer.
The material trades as a viscous dark brown paste at 70 to 80 percent solids, or spray dried to a hygroscopic brown powder on a maltodextrin or salt carrier. Both forms disperse in hot water, tolerate retort sterilisation, and darken slowly on storage as residual Maillard chemistry continues.
We source bulk Natural Meat 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 | Dark brown viscous paste, free of foreign matter |
| Odour and Taste | Characteristic cooked meat, savoury, no rancid or burnt note |
| Total Solids | ≥ 72.0% |
| Total Nitrogen (dry basis) | ≥ 8.0% |
| Amino Nitrogen | ≥ 3.0% |
| Creatinine | ≥ 3.5% |
| Fat | ≤ 3.0% |
| Sodium Chloride | ≤ 5.0% |
| Total Ash | ≤ 22.0% |
| Heavy Metals (as Pb) | ≤ 10 mg/kg |
| Lead | ≤ 1.0 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | ≤ 0.5 mg/kg |
| Total Plate Count | ≤ 10,000 cfu/g |
| Yeast and Mould | ≤ 100 cfu/g |
| E. coli | Negative |
| Salmonella | Absent in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
The main commercial distinction is between paste and powder, and between extracts made from lean meat and those made from bone, connective tissue and cooking liquors recovered from other meat operations. Specifications are written around total nitrogen, amino nitrogen, creatinine, fat, ash and sodium chloride, and buyers use the ratio of amino nitrogen to total nitrogen as the indicator of how far protein breakdown has been taken.
Beyond the standard paste and powder, low sodium versions are made for salt reduced formulations, defatted grades for clear soup and beverage systems, and species specific lines for beef, pork and mixed meat. Halal and Kosher certified beef extract is produced on dedicated lines, and pork free declarations are routinely required for export.
Applications
- Beef bouillon cubes and stock powders, supplying the meat base beneath the compounded flavour
- Canned and retort soups, where it holds savoury character through sterilisation
- Gravy and demi-glace preparations, where the gelatine and peptide fraction adds body
- Savoury spreads of the yeast and meat extract type, contributing the meaty half of the profile
- Ready meals and frozen entrées, restoring depth lost in freezing and reheating
- Meat pies, sausages and burger patties, where a small addition to the mix reinforces the cooked meat note
- Sauce bases including brown sauce, barbecue sauce and braising liquids
- Snack and crisp seasonings applied as a dry topical blend
- Microbiological culture media, where meat extract is a standard nitrogen and growth factor source
- Pet food palatants, where the nucleotide and free amino acid fraction drives acceptance
China Manufacturers of Natural Meat Extract
Top Natural Meat 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 meat extract is a meat derived food ingredient, not a food additive. Manufacture for the domestic market is carried out in establishments under Food Safety and Inspection Service inspection, and the material is declared on labels as beef extract or meat extract. No food additive regulation covers the extract itself, although carriers, anticaking agents and preservatives added to it must each be permitted for the finished application.
In the European Union it is a product of animal origin governed by Regulation 853/2004 on specific hygiene rules, and consignments from outside the Union must originate in an approved third country establishment with the appropriate health certificate. It has no E number because it is an ingredient rather than an additive. Codex has issued no commodity standard for meat extract, so contaminant expectations follow the general Codex standard for contaminants and the code of hygienic practice for meat.
Manufacturing Process
Chilled meat, trimmings and bone are ground and charged to jacketed vessels with water, then cooked at 90 to 100 degrees Celsius or under mild pressure so that soluble nitrogen, nucleotides and gelatine pass into the liquor. Some plants apply a controlled protease step before the main cook and then inactivate the enzyme by heating, which raises the yield of soluble solids and increases amino nitrogen. The classic route uses no enzyme at all and relies on long open extraction.
The cooked mass is separated on a decanter centrifuge into spent solids, stock and a fat phase, and the stock is polished by disc centrifuge and filtered. It then passes through a falling film or multiple effect vacuum evaporator, where it is reduced under low temperature to 70 to 80 percent solids. Paste is filled hot into pails or drums, while powder is made by blending the concentrate with carrier and spray drying, followed by sieving, metal detection and packing under a moisture barrier.
