Compatibility characterization and storage stability of Ficus hirta Vahl. chicken soup powder during storage

Abstract

Ficus hirta Vahl chicken soup (FHV+C-S) powder is one of the most popular Chinese-style soup powders due to its high nutritional value and special flavor. In this study, infrared spectroscopy was used to investigate the compatibility between FHV and chicken after decoction, and result showed new absorption peaks (1871 and 1522 cm-1) generated in the mixed soup of FHV-chicken, indicating the interaction between FHV and chicken. The storage stability and shelf life of FHV+C-S powder were also estimated, and results indicated that storage temperature and time greatly influenced the acid value (AV) and peroxide value (POV) of FHV+C-S powder. The regression equations of FHV+C-S powder simulated by the first-order kinetic equation and the Arrhenius equation showed a high fit coefficient (R2 > 0.9), and the shelf-life of the powder was predicted to be 568 days. Gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS) was employed to analyze the changes in volatile compounds in FHV+C-S powder during storage, and results indicated the fluctuation of flavor compounds, with some decreased with storage time prolonged, such as 2-phenylethanol, hexanal, butanone, butyraldehyde, while some other increased, such as amyl alcohol, valeraldehyde, 2-octanone, 2-heptanone. This demonstrated GC-IMS as a visualized tool for flavor compounds and stability analysis.