Abstract:To compare the changing trends of the flavor compounds of pork meatballs obtained over different frying time periods, deep-fried pork meatballs were used in this study. Solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SPME-GC-MS) was employed to separate and analyze the volatile flavor compounds of the deep-fried pork meatballs. Moreover, discriminant analysis was conducted by chemometric methods and sensory evaluations. The results revealed a total of 55 compounds belonging to nine categories, alcohols, aldehydes, alkanes, esters, acids, ketones, olefins, ethers and others, were detected, among which aldehydes had the highest content. Through Odor Activity Value (OAV) calculations and Partial Least Squares-Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA), differences caused by the variations in frying time were distinguished. Nine volatile flavor compounds, namely hexanal, nonanal, β-myrcene, 1-pentanol, sabinene, β-pinene, butyl lactate, isoamyl alcohol, and lauricene, were preliminarily identified as the characteristic flavor compounds of deepfried pork meatballs. The flavor abundance was the highest when the frying time was 12 min. This research provides a theoretical basis for the development of high-quality pork meatballs and a reference for the industrial production of ballshaped foods like “lion's head” and “beef meatballs” and the flavor research of prefabricated dishes.
