Abstract: The effect of rosemary extract on the flavor characteristics and oxidative quality of dried Penaeus vannamei at different processing stages was explored employing an electronic tongue, an electronic nose, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results showed that rosemary extract significantly inhibited the carbonyl content and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) value of shrimp at the soaking, boiling, and drying stages (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group without the addition of rosemary extract, the shrimp with rosemary extract had a higher equivalent umami concentration (EUC) and a lower degradation rate of flavor nucleotides. The proportion of sweet amino acids in the rosemary treatment group was significantly higher, while the proportion of total bitter amino acids was significantly lower than that in the control group at the soaking, boiling, and drying stages (P < 0.05). The electronic nose results showed that the odor characteristics were similar between the groups with and without rosemary extract during the cooking stage. A total of 41 volatile flavor compounds were identified by GC-MS. Rosemary extract inhibited the generation of volatile flavor components including those responsible for the fishy odor such as trimethylamine at different processing stages, which may be related to the antioxidant activity of rosemary extract. Overall, rosemary extract shows good application prospects in improving the non-volatile flavor quality of shrimp when combined with thermal processing techniques.

Key words: Penaeus vannamei; drying; rosemary extract; oxidation; flavor