| Abstract
| - Inosine monophosphate (IMP) and its degradation products, ribose and hypoxanthine, are allconsidered to be important constituents in meat flavor formation and development. The present studyexplored the fate of IMP during the aging of two qualities of pork (pH >5.7 and 5.5 < pH < 5.6) andthe potential relationship between IMP, hypoxanthine, and sensory attributes of pork registered bothas retronasal and basic taste responses in whole meat, meat juice, and the remaining meat residue.During aging the concentration of IMP decreased with a simultaneous increase in the concentrationsof inosine, hypoxanthine, and ribose. The rates at which IMP was degraded to inosine and inosineto hypoxanthine during aging were found to be in agreement with the known rate constants of thedephosphorylation of IMP and the hydrolysis of inosine, respectively. Moreover, high-pH pork resultedin a significantly higher concentration of hypoxanthine throughout storage compared with low-pHpork due to an initially higher concentration of IMP in high-pH meat. The sensory analysis showedincreasing intensity in bitterness and saltiness of pork as a function of aging, with the intensity beingmost pronounced in the meat juice. The increasing bitterness of the pork as a function of agingcoincided with the higher content of hypoxanthine in these samples, thereby suggesting thatdegradation of IMP to hypoxanthine might influence pork flavor. In contrast, IMP was associatedwith nonaged meat and the sensory attributes meaty and brothy. Keywords: Pork; meat quality; flavor; IMP; brothy; hypoxanthine; bitterness
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