Meat extract is highly concentrated

meat Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...

stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...

, usually made from

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). Beef can be prepared in various ways; Cut of beef, cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often Ground beef, grou ...

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

. It is used to add meat flavor in cooking, and to make

broth Broth, also known as bouillon (), is a savory liquid made of water in which meat, fish, or vegetables have been simmered for a short period of time. It can be eaten alone, but it is most commonly used to prepare other dishes, such as soups ...

for soups and other liquid-based foods. Meat extract was invented by Baron

Justus von Liebig Justus ''Freiherr'' von Liebig (12 May 1803 – 18 April 1873) was a Germans, German scientist who made major contributions to the theory, practice, and pedagogy of chemistry, as well as to agricultural and biology, biological chemistry; he is ...

, a German 19th-century organic chemist. Liebig specialised in chemistry and the classification of food and wrote a paper on how the

nutritional value Nutritional value or nutritive value as part of food quality is the measure of a well-balanced ratio of the essential nutrients carbohydrates, fat, protein, minerals, and vitamins in items of food or diet concerning the nutrient requirements of ...

of a meat is lost by boiling. Liebig's view was that meat juices, as well as the fibres, contained much important nutritional value and that these were lost by boiling or cooking in unenclosed vessels. Fuelled by a desire to help feed the undernourished, in 1840 he developed a concentrated beef extract, ''Extractum carnis Liebig'', to provide a nutritious meat substitute for those unable to afford the real thing. However, it took 30 kg of meat to produce 1 kg of extract, making the extract too expensive.

Commercialization

Liebig's Extract of Meat Company

Liebig went on to co-found the Liebig's Extract of Meat Company, (later Oxo), in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

whose factory, opened in 1865 in Fray Bentos, a port in

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, took advantage of meat from cattle being raised for their hides — at one third the price of British meat. Before that, it was the Giebert et Compagnie (April 1863).

Bovril

In the 1870s, John Lawson Johnston invented 'Johnston's Fluid Beef', later renamed

Bovril Bovril is a thick and salty meat extract paste, similar to a yeast extract, developed in the 1870s by John Lawson Johnston. It is sold in a distinctive bulbous jar and as cubes and granules. Its appearance is similar to the British Marmite and ...

. Unlike Liebig's meat extract, Bovril also contained flavourings. It was manufactured in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and

which could provide cheap

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

Effects

Liebig and Bovril were important contributors to the beef industry in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Bonox

On the market in 1919 and created by the Fred Walker and Company Bonox is manufactured in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. When it was created it was often offered as an alternative hot drink with it being common to offer "Coffee, tea or Bonox".

Today

Meat extracts have largely been supplanted by bouillon cubes and

yeast extract Yeast extracts consist of the cell contents of yeast without the cell walls; they are used as food additives or flavorings, or as nutrients for bacterial culture Growing media, media. They are often used to create savoury flavors and umami tast ...

. Some brands of meat extract, such as Oxo and Bovril, now contain yeast extract as well as meat extract. For example, the current formulation of Bovril contains 41% beef stock, 24% yeast extract, 1% dehydrated beef and salt (388 mg

sodium Sodium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Na (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 element, group 1 of the peri ...

per 100g), spice extracts and flavor enhancers among other ingredients. High purity meat extract is still available from laboratory supply companies for microbiology.

References

Bibliography

* Günther Klaus Judel,
Die Geschichte von Liebigs Fleischextrakt: Zur populärsten Erfindung des berühmten Chemikers
(The History of Liebig's Meat Extract: On the famous chemist's most popular invention), ''Spiegel der Forschung: Wissenschaftsmagazin der Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen'' 20:1/2:6, October 2003. {{Beef Food ingredients Dried meat Beef Umami enhancers German inventions Justus von Liebig