Characterization of Key Aroma Compounds in Roasted Chicken Using Spme, Safe, Gc-O, Gc-Ms, Aeda, Oav, Recombination-Omission Tests, and Sensory Evaluation

Aroma compounds in the roasted breasts, thighs and skins of chicken were isolated by solvent-assisted flavor evaporation (SAFE), quantitated by gas chromatography-olfactometry-mass (GC-O-MS) on a polar column and non-polar column, analyzed by aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA), and determined by recombination−omission tests and sensory evaluation. Forty-seven aroma compounds in total, including aldehydes, ketones, furans, pyrazines, and furanones, were selected by AEDA. Among the forty-seven aroma compounds, twenty-five compounds were selected as pivotal odorants (OAV≥1). Twenty aroma compounds significantly were identified by recombination and omission experiments. Anethole (fennel odor) was the highest OAV (>1843). Hexanal (grassy) and (E, E)-2,4-decadienal (meaty) were the most abundant aldehydes identified in roasted chicken. 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom), methanethiol (cabbage) and dimethyl trisulfide (areca, sulfur) were considered the key compound of the breast and thighs of roasted chicken. Notably, furanone and pyrazines, 4-hydroxy-5-methyl-3(2H)-furanone (caramel, sweet and burning odor), 2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, popcorn), 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (nutty, toasty) and 2,3-dimethyl-5-ethylpyrazine (nutty, toasty) had the most significant effect on roasted chicken odor, especially in the skin. The primary aroma profile of roasted chicken was constitutive of roasty, caramel, meaty and fennel aromas.