Abstract:

The changes in volatile flavor components at different processing steps were analyzed in order to provide an
experimental basis for improving the traditional processing technology for Hunan cured meat. Solid phase micro-extraction
coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SPME-GC-MS) was adopted for the qualitative and semi-quantitative
analysis of volatile flavor components in dry-cured, initially dried, secondarily dried, and smoked samples. The results
showed that 37 volatile compounds were identified from dry-cured samples, while 52, 55, and 67 compounds were identified
from initially dried, secondarily dried, and smoked samples, respectively. These compounds mainly included aldehydes,
esters, ketones and phenols. The types and concentrations of volatile compounds were less in dry-cured samples. The number
of ketone compounds increased, and the concentrations of aldehydes and esters also rose after drying. However, no obvious
changes were observed for alcohols. The greatest changes in the types and concentrations of phenols in meat occurred after
smoking, increasing from an initial level of 5.97 to 1 019.33 μg/kg.

Key words: Hunan cured meat, volatile flavor components, solid phase micro-extraction coupled with gas chromatographymass spectrometry (SPME-GC-MS), fat oxidation, smoking