Abstract: As a natural food additive, spices can significantly improve the sensory and physiochemical properties of foods, including improving the flavor and inhibiting microbial growth. Therefore, spices have been widely used in the food field, especially in meat products. Some pungent spices such as chili and prickly ash, which can endow meat products with unique spicy flavor and eliminate the unpleasant odor, have been indispensable base materials in the processing of meat products. The pungent spices play an important role in the diet culture in the provincial regions of Sichuan and Chongqing. Therefore, this review focuses on the flavor compounds of pungent spices and the influence of pungent spices on the flavor of meat products. Moreover, the advantages and disadvantages of several commonly used methods for the detection of the spices are compared. It is hoped that this review will provide a basis for the application of pungent spices in meat products.

Key words: pungent spices; chili; prickly ash; meat products; flavor compounds