Impact of different frying methods on volatile compounds in tofu

To investigate the effects of different frying methods on tofu aroma, sensory evaluation, electronic nose analysis, GC–IMS, and GC–MS combined with chemometric methods were employed to characterize volatile compounds in control, deep-fried, air-fried, and pan-fried samples. Sensory evaluation showed that pan-fried tofu achieved the highest overall acceptability. GC–IMS revealed distinct volatile fingerprints among samples, reflecting marked compositional shifts induced by different frying methods. Furthermore, GC–MS identified 153 volatile compounds, with esters being the predominant group. The integrated analytical approach demonstrated that frying methods significantly affected the generation and transformation of aroma-active compounds, with pan-fried tofu exhibiting the richest and most desirable aroma profile.