Determination of cooking state of a Chinese traditional fish dish (Suantangyu) and flavor characterization by modeling, sensory evaluation, and instrumental analysis

Abstract

Traditional Suantangyu (STY) is made by cooking fish in the fermented sour soup and has a distinctive flavor. To determine the doneness and analyze the flavor and volatile compounds in cooking STY for reasonable manufacturing guidance, the maturity value model, sensory evaluation, E-nose, E-tongue, and HS-SPME–GC–MS were employed in this paper. Results indicated that the maturity state (MyS) and optimal flavor state (OFS) were obtained by cooking STY 1.89 min at 50°C and 15 min at 80°C, respectively. Differences in the flavor of different cooking states of STY were found via principal component analysis (PCA) of E-nose and E-tongue. Moreover, the strongest sourness and saltness and the lowest astringency and bitterness were detected in OFS. Fifty-seven volatiles were identified in STY via HS-SPME–GC–MS. The most abundant volatiles were detected in OFS, particularly alcohols, esters, and aldehydes. Nonanal, octanal, eucalyptol, linalool, and ethyl acetate with high relative odor contribution (ROC) were the key odor-active compounds in STY. This work could offer rational determination of doneness and deeper insight into flavor quality control during STY cooking. Novelty impact statement This work quantitatively determined the cooking doneness of Chinese traditional Suantangyu via integrating sensory evaluation and kinetics. The optimal flavor state of Suantangyu showed stronger aroma and taste attributes than the maturity state via analysis of E-nose, E-tongue, and HS-SPME-GC–MS. Finally, nonanal, octanal, eucalyptol, linalool, and ethyl acetate were the key odor-active compounds in Suantangyu.