Abstract: Fish soup, a traditional Chinese broth food, is loved by consumers due to its rich nutrition, high digestion and absorption rate, umami and sweet taste, and strong aroma. However, off-flavors can be formed during the processing and storage of fish soup, restricting its industrial development. Off-flavors in fish soup are from a wide range of sources, have complex composition, and are difficult to eliminate. Therefore, it is urgent to understand the formation mechanism of the flavor quality of fish soup (especially off-flavors), identify the factors affecting the flavor quality of fish soup, and establish measures to regulate off-flavors in fish soup. In this context, this article summarizes the formation pathways of fish soup flavor, and systematically discusses the processing factors that affect the flavor quality of fish soup. It clarifies that selecting appropriate processing methods can effectively enhance the characteristic aroma of fish soup and reduce the undesirable odor, summarizes the current methods to remove the fishiness and bitterness of fish soup, and compares their advantages and disadvantages. We hope that this article will provide a theoretical basis for future research to regulate the flavor quality of fish soup and to develop portable fish soup foods.

Key words: fish soup; flavor quality; formation mechanism; influential factors; regulation; removal of fishiness and bitterness