Characterization and comparison of flavor compounds in stewed pork with different processing methods

The objective of this study was to investigate the volatile and non-volatile compounds of stewed pork with different processing methods (TS: traditional stewing, TSE: traditional stewing with enzymatic degradation, TSEM: traditional stewing with enzymatic degradation and Maillard reaction, HS: high-temperature stewing, HSE: high-temperature stewing with enzymatic degradation, HSEM: high-temperature stewing with enzymatic degradation and Maillard reaction). The odor compounds results showed that HS, HSE and HSEM had higher types and contents of volatile compounds than TS, TSE and TSEM, especially HSEM. All stewed pork from traditional and high-temperature stewing methods were classified into two groups using an electronic nose due to different flavor characteristics. Non-volatile compounds results displayed the contents of total amino acids in HS, HSE and HSEM were higher significantly (P < 0.05) than those of TS, TSE and TSEM, of which the contents of Asp and Glu related to umami taste were the most in HS and HSEM. In contrast, there were the lower contents of 5′-nucleotides and fatty acids in HS, HSE and HSEM. These findings indicated that the high-temperature stewed pork method could be used as an effective method to improve the flavor of pork, among which HSEM processing method was particularly remarkable.