Meat quality and flavor evaluation of Nanjing water boiled salted duck (NWSD) produced by different Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) ingredients

Effects of different drying methods on physicochemical, textural, flavor, and sensory characteristics of yak jerky

The work aimed to study the effect of four drying methods, namely constant temperature hot air drying (HD), microwave drying (MD), hot air microwave drying (HMD), and gradient hot air drying (GHD), on quality characteristics of dried yak meat. The analyses of physicochemical, textural, flavor, and sensory characteristics were carried out based on these four drying methods. The results revealed that microwave dried yak jerky exhibited better color and received the highest sensory score. Hardness of samples were affected by the drying methods, which showed significant differences. There were 21 free amino acids (FAAs) detected in dried yak samples. The samples treated by microwave drying showed the highest total free amino acid content (73.30 mg/100 g) and the EUC value was significantly higher than other methods, indicating the sample displayed greater flavor. A total of 153 volatile compounds were identified in dried yak meat samples, primarily including aldehydes, ketones, and esters. Moreover, the sensory evaluation indicated that the drying methods could significantly affect on color, flavor, and overall acceptability of different samples. Microwave drying samples scored higher than other drying methods. Overall, considering aspects of quality, time savings, and energy efficiency, microwave drying of yak jerky emerges as a more satisfactory option. This study could provide important theoretical support for the application of drying methods to improve the quality of yak jerky and enhance production efficiency.

A comparative analysis reveals the genomic diversity among 8 Muscovy duck populations

The Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) is a waterfowl indigenous to the neotropical regions of Central and South America. It has low demand for concentrated feed and strong adaptability to different rearing conditions. After introduced to China through Eurasian commercial trade, Muscovy ducks have a domestication history of around 300 years in the Fujian Province of China. In the 1990s, the commodity Muscovy duck breed "Crimo," cultivated in Europe, entered the Chinese market for consumption and breeding purposes. Due to the different selective breeding processes, Muscovy ducks have various populational traits and lack transparency of their genetic background. To remove this burden in the Muscovy duck breeding process, we analyzed genomic data from 8 populations totaling 83 individuals. We identify 11.24 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and categorized these individuals into the Fujian-bred and the Crimo populations according to phylogenetic analyses. We then delved deeper into their evolutionary relationships through assessing population structure, calculating fixation index (FST) values, and measuring genetic distances. Our exploration of runs of homozygosity (ROHs) and homozygous-by-descent (HBD) uncovered genomic regions enriched for genes implicated in fatty acid metabolism, development, and immunity pathways. Selective sweep analyses further indicated strong selective pressures exerted on genes including TECR, STAT2, and TRAF5. These findings provide insights into genetic variations of Muscovy ducks, thus offering valuable information regarding genetic diversity, population conservation, and genome associated with the breeding of Muscovy ducks.

Evaluation of the aroma and taste contributions of star anise (I. Verum hook. f.) in braised duck leg via flavor omics combined with multivariate statistics

To promote the rationalized and standardized application of star anise in braised poultry products, the effects of different concentrations of star anise (0 %, 0.1 %, 0.2 %, 0.3 %, and 0.4 %) on the aroma and taste compounds intensities of braised duck legs from the perspective of flavor were evaluated by using flavor omics approach combined with multivariate statistics. The volatile flavor results showed that there were 17 key aroma compounds with odor activity values (OAVs) > 1, including aldehydes, alcohols, ketones, furans, hydrocarbons, and ethers. Most of the aroma compounds related to lipid oxidation were significantly inhibited when the concentration of star anise reached 0.2 %, especially inhibited the concentrations of the unpleasant off-odorants containing hexanal, heptanal, 1-octen-3-ol, and 2-pentyl-furan by 30.27 %, 15.08 %, 30.30 %, and 41.63 %, respectively. And the flavor intensities of these compounds were negatively correlated with the concentration of star anise. Additionally, star anise gave braised duck legs characteristic aroma such as floral and herbal notes. The taste results revealed that the maximum umami value (4.36 g MSG/100 g) of braised duck legs was observed when the concentration of star anise reached 0.2 %. Six flavor markers were obtained via PLS-DA model, and the flavors of braised duck legs with different concentrations of star anise were distinguished. This study provided a vital theoretical basis for the rational application and flavor control of star anise in braised poultry products.

Flavor and sensory profile of Chinese traditional fish noodles produced by different silver carp (hypophthalmichthys molitrix) mince ingredients

This study employs sensory evaluation, headspace gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (HS-GC-IMS), and headspace solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS) techniques to investigate the effect of different pretreatment of fresh silver carp mince (running water rinsing 0, 1, or 2 times) and commercially frozen surimi on the odor characteristics of fish noodles. The free choice profiling (FCP) and check all that apply (CATA) sensory analysis methods were utilized to identify 10 characteristic descriptors, which include "grass, fish fragrance, unpleasant fishy, fatty, roast, ammonia, caramel, warmed-over, earthy, and mushroomy". HS-GC-IMS and HS-SPME-GC-MS detected 80 and 37 volatile compounds (VCs) in fish noodles. The 1-Penten-3-ol, (E)-2-pentenal-D, hexanal-D, pentanal-D, (E,E)-2, 4-heptadienal-D contents were significantly correlated with "fish fragrance" and "unpleasant fishy", and octanal, nonanal, heptanal, 2-methylpyrazine contents were significantly correlated with "warmed-over" flavor. The results of this study can be helpful for fish noodle quality improvement and industrial production.

Investigation into the characteristic volatile flavor of old duck

In order to explore the characteristic aroma flavor and its formation mechanism of old ducks, two ages (30 days and 60 days) of young ducks and three ages of old ducks (300 days, 900 days, and 1500 days) were selected and studied. An electronic nose was applied to evaluate the overall aroma flavor, and the result showed significant differences between the five duck samples. By gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), forty-eight volatile flavor compounds were detected, including seven aldehydes, six esters, five alcohols, five nitrogen compounds, twenty-one hydrocarbons, and four others. Among these compounds, twelve components, such as hexanal and dimethyl anthranilate, were considered as the characteristic flavor compounds along with duck aging. Furthermore, correlation analysis indicated that meat's unsaturated free fatty acids, especially linoleic acid (C18:2), were responsible for the duck's characteristic flavor formation. These data contribute to the flavor research and identification of old ducks.

Characterization of key aroma compounds in Chinese smoked duck by SAFE-GC-O-MS and aroma-recombination experiments

Smoked duck is a popular meat product in China. The aroma profile and key aroma compounds in smoked ducks were elucidated using solvent-assisted flavor evaporation-gas chromatography-olfactometry-mass spectrometry (SAFE-GC-O-MS), odor activity values (OAVs), aroma recombination and omission experiments, and sensory evaluation. The results indicated that the predominant aroma profiles of rice-, tea oil- and sugarcane-smoked ducks all contained strong smoky, roasty, fatty, meaty, and grassy aromas. A total of 31 aroma compounds were identified as important odorants by OAVs, including 8 aldehydes, 6 pyrazines, 5 phenols, and 2 sulfur compounds. The aroma recombination and omission experiments confirmed that 13 odorants were key aroma compounds in smoked ducks. Of these odorants, 2-methoxyphenol, 4-methylphenol, 5-ethyl-2,3-dimethylpyrazine, methional, 2-methyl-3-furanthiol, (E, E)-2,4-decadienal, 1-octen-3-ol, and anethole significantly contributed to the aroma profile of smoked duck flavor (p < 0.01).

Predicting VOCs content and roasting methods of lamb shashliks using deep learning combined with chemometrics and sensory evaluation

A comparison was made between the traditional charcoal-grilled lamb shashliks (T) and four new methods, namely electric oven heating (D), electric grill heating (L), microwave heating (W), and air fryer treatment (K). Using E-nose, E-tongue, quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA), and HS-GC-IMS and HS-SPME-GC-MS, lamb shashliks prepared using various roasting methods were characterized. Results showed that QDA, E-nose, and E-tongue could differentiate lamb shashliks with different roasting methods. A total of 43 and 79 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were identified by HS-GC-IMS and HS-SPME-GC-MS, respectively. Unsaturated aldehydes, ketones, and esters were more prevalent in samples treated with the K and L method. As a comparison to the RF, SVM, 5-layer DNN and XGBoost models, the CNN-SVM model performed best in predicting the VOC content of lamb shashliks (accuracy rate all over 0.95) and identifying various roasting methods (accuracy rate all over 0.92).

The Effect of Sodium Chloride on the Physicochemical and Textural Properties and Flavor Characteristics of Sous Vide Cooked Duck Meat

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of salt brining process parameters (salt concentration 0-15%, brining time 4-12 h, brining temperature 4-20 °C) on the quality of sous vide cooked duck meat by a single factor combined with response surface methodology (RSM). The sensory evaluation, physicochemical indexes (color, weight loss, NaCl content, TBARS value, and texture properties), and flavor characteristics were analyzed. The sensory overall mean score was applied as the evaluation index to optimize the brining conditions by RSM, and the optimum results contained a salt concentration of 11.69%, a brining temperature of 7.35 °C, and a brining time of 8.03 h. Under these conditions, the sensory overall mean score of duck meat was 8.59, with a relatively higher a* value and moderate NaCl content. GC-MS and odor activity value (OAV) results indicated that salt brining treatment significantly promoted the formation of the major odorants in duck meat, including pentanal, heptanal, octanal, (E)-2-nonenal, cis-4-decenal, decanal, 2,4-decadienal, (E,E)-2,4-decadienal, 1-heptanol, and 2-methyl-3-octanone, but decreased the content of hexanal, (E)-2-octenal, nonanal, (E,E)-2,4-nonadienal, 1-octen-3-ol, and 1-octen-3-one. 5'-nucleotides in duck meat were significantly increased after brining treatment. Therefore, salt brining treatment could be regarded as an efficient way to improve the sensory, aroma, and taste quality of sous vide cooked meat.

Effects of replacement partial sodium chloride on characteristic flavor substances of bacon during storage based on GC×GC-MS and non-targeted metabolomics analyses

Comprehensive 2D gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC × GC-MS) and non-targeted metabolomics were employed to investigate the differences in key volatile flavor substances between bacon salted with alternative salt and traditional bacon during storage. The GC × GC-MS analysis revealed that among 146 volatile compounds in both types of bacon, alcohol, aldehydes, ketones, phenols, and alkenes were the most abundant. Additionally, non-targeted metabolomics indicated that the changes in amino acids and the oxidation degradation of lipids could be the main reasons for the flavor differences among the two kinds of bacon. Furthermore, the acceptability scores of both bacon types showed a general upward trend as the storage time increased, indicating that the metabolic of substances occurring during bacon storage significantly impact its overall quality. By partially substituting sodium chloride with 22% potassium chloride and 11% calcium ascorbate, coupled with appropriate storage conditions, the quality of bacon can be improved.

Microbial community succession and their relationship with the flavor formation during the natural fermentation of Mouding sufu

Mouding sufu, a traditional fermented soybean product in China, has been recognized by the public in the southwestern regions of China. To reveal the microbial community succession and their relationship with the flavor formation during the natural fermentation of Mouding sufu, microbial community, non-volatile flavor compounds and volatile flavor compounds were analyzed by high-throughput sequencing, high-performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography ion migration spectroscopy, respectively. The results showed that Lactobacillus and Klebsiella were the most abundant bacterial genus, whereas the main fungal genera were unclassified-f-Dipodascaeae and Issatchenkia. In addition, Glutamic acid, Aspartic acid, Alanine, Valine, Lysine, Histidine, lactic acid, succinic acid, and acetic acid were the main non-volatile flavor substances. Furthermore, the taste activity values of glutamic acid, aspartic acid and lactic acid reached 132, 68.9, 18.18 at H60, respectively, meaning that umami and sour were the key taste compounds. Simultaneously, ethyl 3-methylbutanoate-M, ethyl propanoate, methyl 2-methylbutanoate, ethyl 2-methylbutanoate, ethyl 3-methylbutanoate-D, ethyl isobutyrate, linalool-M, linalool-D, cis-4-heptenal, 2-methylpropanal were the characteristic volatile flavor of Mouding sufu. Finally, correlation analysis showed that g__Erwinia and g__Acremonium correlated with most of the key aroma compounds. 20 bacteria and 21 fungi were identified as core functional microbe for Mouding sufu production.

Characterization of selected commercially available grilled lamb shashliks based on flavor profiles using GC-MS, GC × GC-TOF-MS, GC-IMS, E-nose and E-tongue combined with chemometrics

HS-SPME-GC-MS, SPME-Arrow-GC × GC-TOF-MS, HS-GC-IMS, Electronic-nose, and Electronic-tongue systems were applied in a feasibility study of the flavor characterization of five commercially available Chinese grilled lamb shashliks. A total of 198 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were identified (∼71% by GC × GC-TOF-MS). Using data fusion strategies, five predictive models were applied to the composition of VOCs and brand identification of the lamb shashliks. Compared with partial least squares regression, support vector machine, deep neural network, and RegBoost modeling, a momentum deep belief network model performed best in predicting VOCs content and identifying shashlik brands (R² above 0.96, and RMSE below 0.1). Intelligent sensory technology combined with chemometrics is a promising approach to the flavor characterization of shashliks and other food matrices.

Effects of chitosan coating combined with thermal treatment on physicochemical properties, bacterial diversity and volatile flavor of braised duck meat during refrigerated storage

The current study aimed to assess the impact of chitosan coating (0.005 g/mL) combined with thermal treatment (85 °C for 30 min) on tenderness, lipid and protein oxidation, bacterial diversity, and volatile flavor compounds in braised duck leg meat under vacuum packaging during refrigerated storage (4 °C for 15 days). The findings revealed that the three preserved treatments significantly increased tenderness from days 1 to 3. There was a substantial decrease from days 6 to 12 compared to the control, but no significant differences were observed on day 15. Compared with the control, the three preserved treatments reduced TBARS values by 25.8%-78.6% (from days 6 to 12) and total sulfhydryl concentrations by 24.1%-75.7% (from days 3 to 9). The combination treatment had the lowest values (carbonyl concentration, TVC, and TEC) compared to the chitosan coating and thermal treatment, indicating a significant synergistic effect. The proportions of the four primary spoilage organisms, Brochothrix, Weissella, Acinetobacter, and Pseudomonas, were 74.8%, 76.3%, 70.7%, and 49.7% in control, chitosan coating, thermal treatment, and combination treatment, respectively. The combination treatment produced the most volatile flavor compounds (38 compounds) at the end of storage (15 days). Hexanal, 1-nonanal, 1-octen-3-ol, and 2, 3-octanedione were the main volatile flavor compounds, and the average relative peak area was above 80. Therefore, chitosan coating and thermal treatment could be developed as synergistic methods to preserve braised duck meat.

ACE Inhibitory Peptides Derived from Muscovy Duck (Cairina moschata) Plasma

In this study, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitory peptides (ACE-IPs) derived from Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) plasma hydrolysate (MDPH) were investigated. According to the general research protocol for bioactive peptides, the crude ACE-IPs of Muscovy duck plasma were separated and purified by ultrafiltration, gel chromatography and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). Then the components with the highest ACE inhibition potential were selected for identification. Finally, the inhibition mechanism was explored by molecular docking and in silico simulated digestion. A total of 121 peptides was detected, and five were screened for synthesis verification and molecular docking. The peptide VALSSLRP revealed high ACE inhibitory activity (91.67 ± 0.73%) because this peptide bound tightly to the S1' pocket and formed 3 hydrogen bonds. Meaningfully, this work provides some new information about the generation of ACE-IPs derived from duck blood plasma.