Comparison of volatile components in fresh and canned sea urchin ( Paracentrotus lividus, Lamarck ) gonads by GC-MS using dynamic headspace sampling and microwave desorption

Abstract

Volatile component profiles of raw and canned sea urchin gonads were analyzed using dynamic headspace sampling onto an adsorbent, followed by microwave desorption into a gas chromatograph equipped with a mass spectrometric detector. Thirty-nine compounds were identified, including alcohols, aldehydes, aromatic hydrocarbons, furans, hydrocarbons, ketones, nitrogen-containing compounds, sulfur-containing compounds and terpenes. The most important changes caused by sterilization were: (1) appearance of furans, nitrogen-containing compounds and branched aldehydes; (2) increase in the contents of aldehydes and sulfur-containing compounds. It is concluded that the change in aroma during canning depends on compounds from lipid oxidation and from thermal degradation of carbohydrates as well as compounds from other types of reactions, e.g. the Strecker degradation and the Maillard reaction.