Abstract:

In order to investigate the impact of different thawing methods including natural air thawing, thawing in flowing
water, microwave thawing, low-temperature thawing and ultrasonic thawing on the volatile flavor compounds of Hyla rabbit
meat, the flavor compounds were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively by head space-solid phase micro-extraction
coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results showed that different thawing methods exerted certain
impacts on volatile flavor compounds of Hyla rabbit meat, a total of 71 volatile flavor compounds, including 26 kinds of
aldehydes, 6 kinds of ketones, 14 kinds of hydrocarbons, 12 kinds of alcohols, 8 kinds of esters, 4 kinds of acids, and 1 kind
of furan, were identified. Aldehydes were the most abundant compounds (> 70%), followed by ketones, hydrocarbons and
alcohols (> 5%), and the numbers and contents of esters and furans were lower (< 3%). Compared to the control group, the
contents of aldehydes in frozen rabbit meat thawed by flowing water, microwave thawing and ultrasonic thawing increased
by 19.385%, 4.694% and 18.285%, respectively, but a decrease of 6.930% was achieved by low-temperature thawing; the
contents of ketones in low-temperature thawing and microwave thawing increased by 72.843% and 14.554% respectively,
but ultrasonic thawing resulted in a decrease of 72.932%; the content of hydrocarbons in microwave thawing was similar to
that from low-temperature thawing. As the typical flavor compound of rabbit meat, 2-pentyl-furan was detected by ultrasonic
thawing. Natural air thawing was more suitable to ensure the flavor compounds of Hyla rabbit meat. Significant correlation
existed between thawing methods and the volatile flavor compounds of Hyla rabbit meat.

Key words: thawing methods, Hyla rabbit meat, volatile flavor compounds, head space-solid phase micro-extraction, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry