Evaluation of the flavour properties of cooked chicken drumsticks as affected by sugar smoking times using an electronic nose, electronic tongue, and HS-SPME/GC-MS

This study evaluated the effect of different sugar smoking times on the flavour profiles of chicken drumsticks using an electronic nose (E-nose), electronic tongue (E-tongue), and headspace solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC-MS). The moisture content, water activity, pH, and L*-value decreased from 71.26% to 65.23%, 0.987 to 0.979, 6.66 to 5.36, and 61.84 to 52.34, respectively (P < 0.05). The a*-value and b*-value increased from 4.96 to 9.65 and 16.61 to 26.45, respectively (P < 0.05) with the increase in smoking times. Seventy-five volatile compounds were identified, and 18 volatile compounds were identified as key odour compounds and among them seven key volatile compounds with variable importance in projection (VIP) > 1 were detected. Principal component analysis of E-nose, E-tongue, and HS-SPME/GC-MS indicated that 3-, 4-, and 5-min smoking samples had similar odour and taste profiles. Sensory analysis indicated that the 4-min sample had increased overall acceptability. The correlation analysis of E-nose and key volatile compounds with odour activity value > 1 and VIP >1 confirmed that W1C, W3C, and W5C sensors were sensitive to aromatic compounds, and W2S sensor was sensitive to ketones. These results may provide guidance for smoked chicken producers to reasonably control flavour formation.