Abstract: The volatile flavor compounds development of jinhua ham was studied during traditional processing. The results showedthat a total of 78 volatile compounds were tentatively identified, the bases were aldehydes, carboxylic acids, alcohols, ketones, esters,aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons, sulphur compounds and benzene. The percentage of aldehydes & ketones was graduallyreduced with the increase of temperature, and alcohols,carboxylic acids, esters, benzene and sulphur compounds had graduallyincreased. During high-temperature maturating carboxylic acids ,was from Maillard reaction, markedly increased with temperature,which was the most obviously difference between jinhua ham and Mediterranean region dry-cured ham ,and also that is the mainreason why the jinhua ham gave an unique flavor.

Key words: jinhua ham, high-temperature maturating, volatile flavor compounds, carboxylic acids