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Meat extract is highly concentrated
meat Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...
stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a compan ...
, usually made from
beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantit ...
or
chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...
. It is used to add meat flavour 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 – 20 April 1873) was a German scientist who made major contributions to agricultural and biological chemistry, and is considered one of the principal founders of organic chemistry. As a professor at th ...
, 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 t ...
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.


Commercialisation


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 and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
whose factory, opened in 1865 in
Fray Bentos Fray Bentos () is the capital city of the Río Negro Department, in south-western Uruguay, at the Argentina-Uruguay border, near the Argentine city of Gualeguaychú. Its port on the Uruguay River is one of the nation's most important harbours ...
, a port in
Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del 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 ...
, 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 the trademarked name of 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. Bovril is owned and distrib ...
. Unlike Liebig's meat extract, Bovril also contained flavourings. It was manufactured in
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...
and
Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del 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 ...
which could provide cheap
cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...
.


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 relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...
.


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 sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
. 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 A bouillon cube ( Canada and US), stock cube ( Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and UK), or broth cube (Asia) is dehydrated broth or stock formed into a small cube about wide. It is typically made from dehydrated vegetables or ...
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 media. They are often used to create savory flavors and umami taste sensations, ...
. 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 with the symbol Na (from Latin ''natrium'') and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable ...
per 100g), spice extracts and
flavor enhancers A flavoring (or flavouring), also known as flavor (or flavour) or flavorant, is a food additive used to improve the taste or smell of food. It changes the perceptual impression of food as determined primarily by the chemoreceptors of the gust ...
among other ingredients. High purity meat extract is still available from laboratory supply companies for microbiology.http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/sial/70164


See also

*
List of dried foods This is a list of dried foods. Food drying is a method of food preservation that works by removing water from the food, which inhibits the growth of bacteria and has been practiced worldwide since ancient times to preserve food. Where or when d ...
*
Culinary arts Culinary arts are the cuisine arts of food preparation, cooking and presentation of food, usually in the form of meals. People working in this field – especially in establishments such as restaurants – are commonly called chefs ...
* Portable soup


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