Key volatile off-flavor compounds identification in chicken meat and deodorizing effects of polyphenol and spice extracts

This study identified key volatile off-flavor compounds in chicken meat. Flavor compounds were analyzed using headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME), two-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC × GC-MS) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-olfactometry (GC-O-MS). Eighteen volatile flavor compounds (odor activity values ≥1, flavor intensity ≥2) in various chicken meat were found, and green leg chicken has the highest number of selected flavor compounds (14). These 14 compounds were individually incorporated into a flavorless chicken matrix and quantitatively analyzed by GC × GC-MS. Thirteen key flavor compounds were determined and further validated through recombination and omission experiments. Six key off-flavor compounds, 1-octen-3-ol, heptanal, hexanal, nonanal, decanal, dodecanal, were identified. Besides, polyphenol and spice extracts significantly reduced off-flavors in chicken, particularly tea polyphenol. It decreased thiobarbituric acid (TBA) levels and off-flavor values of chicken meat by 90.6 % and 55.6 %, as well as the concentration of 6 key off-flavor compounds (p < 0.05).