Characterization of flavor perception and characteristic aroma of traditional dry-cured fish by flavor omics combined with multivariate statistics

Abstract

Traditional dry-cured fish has a rich aroma and has been favored by consumers. In this study, headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) combined with gas chromatography-olfactory-mass spectrometry (GC-O-MS) was used to identify the aroma components of traditional dry-cured fish. A total of 39 volatile compounds were identified by GC-O-MS, and 17 compounds had odor activity values greater than 1. Aroma recombination model was prepared by mixing 17 volatile compounds from sun-dried fish with an odorant activity value greater than 1 in an odorless matrix. The odorless base had a good similarity to the aroma of dry-cured fish. Seven sensory attributes were selected to describe the aroma of dry-cured fish, namely fishy, fatty, meaty, grassy, ground, rancid, and metallic. The electronic nose and multivariate statistical results showed that there were differences in the aroma of dried cured fish with different traditional drying methods. Sun-dried fish had a strong oily, meaty and metallic taste, while shade-dried fish had strong fishy, grassy, earthy, and rancid odors. Omission tests indicated that hexanal, nonanal, octanal, heptanal, 2-octanal,(E)-, 2-nonenal,(E), 3-methylbutanal, pentanol, hexanol, nonanol, heptanol, 1-octen-3-ol, 2-octen-1-ol,(E)-, 2-pentyl furan and d-limonene are characteristic aroma compounds of dry-cured fish.