Sensory acceptability of antioxidant-based formulations dedicated to mitigate heterocyclic aromatic amines in cooked meat

In a previous work, we studied the inhibition of heterocyclic aromatic amine formation by natural ingredients rich in antioxidants: caper, oregano, wine and green tea. This present work aimed to assess the sensory impact of the addition of these ingredients in ground beef patties. The best liked formulations were determined by a hedonic scoring. Caper and oregano were not significantly different from the standard, the most appreciated, due to their congruency with cooked meat. Direct dissimilarity assessment was performed to evaluate the overall, gustative and odor differences between formulations. Olfactive differences were evidenced as key drivers of these differences. Standard and caper were close while oregano was found significantly different from them. A fast sensory profiling permitted to evidence that aromatic plant note was discriminant for oregano formulation. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/multibooth olfactometry identified the distinctive odor-active compounds of the formulations as pyrazines and sulfide for oregano formulation and ester for caper formulation.