Abstract:In order to study the effect of processing on the volatile content of ready-to-eat dried soybean curd, the volatile components at each stage of processing were identified and quantified by solid phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The results showed that 44, 62, 56, and 53 types of compounds were identified in raw materials, marinated tofu, fried tofu, and sterilized tofu with the content of 2560.84 μg/kg, 3168.53 μg/kg, 2277.82 μg/kg, and 937.64 μg/kg, respectively. The volatile compounds in ready-to-eat dried soybean curd consisted of aldehydes, alcohols, ketones, alkanes, and other compounds. Marinating could decrease the content of alcohols with disagreeable smell and increase the content of aldehydes, ketones, and other compounds with favorable flavors, resulting in a caramel, sweet, and spicy aroma. After frying, the content of aldehydes, alcohols, and ketones with characteristic aromas decreased, causing a serious loss of characteristic aroma in fried tofu. The aroma compounds were further lost after sterilization, and the relative content of hexanal and 1-octen-3-ol that are mainly responsible for the beany flavor were high (32.63%) in the final product. Therefore, the processing of ready-to-eat dried tofu can be appropriately modified to obtain a higher quality product.
