Abstract: Listeria monocytogenes is one of the most important food-borne pathogens causing the decay of frozen meat and listeriosis, a deadly disease. In this paper, the volatile components of frozen beef contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes during different storage periods were analyzed by headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). The results indicated that the major volatile compounds in contaminated beef were benzaldhyde, hexadecane, 2,5-octanedione, butyrate and hexadecanal. The HS-SPME method has many advantages such as simple operation, fast determination, solvent free and trace sample requirement during the analytic process of flavor components in frozen beef. The method allowed the onsite detection so as to ensure the food safety of frozen meat in the modern food industry.

Key words: solid-phase microextraction, Listeria monocytogenes, frozen beef, volatile compounds