Abstract: The changes in volatile aroma and related indexes of cultured large yellow croaker during ice storage were examined using an electronic nose. Using samples stored at room temperature as the control, the electronic nose data were analyzed by principal component analysis and partial least squares (PLS) regression and meanwhile, least linear regression was carried out on the results of total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N), trimethyl amine (TMA), and total viable count (TVC) in order to create a prediction model for quality changes of large yellow croaker. TVB-N, TMA, and TVC levels in large yellow croaker stored in ice or at room temperature increased with prolonged storage time. Electronic nose could accurately discriminate large yellow croaker samples stored under the different conditions. The correlation coefficients of PLS calibration models for TVB-N, TMA and TVC were 0.9884, 0.9889 and 0.9648 for ice-stored samples and 0.9878, 0.9915 and 0.9924 for sampled stored at room temperature, respectively.

Key words: cultured large yellow croaker, electronic nose, trimethyl amine (TMA), total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N), total viable count (TVC)