Characterization of donkey-meat flavor profiles by GC–IMS and multivariate analysis

Abstract

The distinctive flavor compounds of donkey meat are unknown. Accordingly, in the present study, the volatile compounds (VOCs) in the meat from SanFen (SF) and WuTou (WT) donkeys were comprehensively analyzed by gas chromatography–ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS) combined with multivariate analysis. A total of 38 VOCs, of which 33.33% were ketones, 28.89% were alcohols, 20.00% were aldehydes, and 2.22% were heterocycles, were identified. Ketones and alcohols were significantly more abundant for SF than for WT, whereas aldehydes showed the opposite trend. The donkey meats from the two strains were well differentiated using topographic plots, VOC fingerprinting, and multivariate analysis. A total of 17 different VOCs were identified as potential markers for distinguishing the different strains, including hexanal-m, 3-octenal, oct-1-en-3-ol, and pentanal-d. These results indicate that GC–IMS combined with multivariate analysis is a convenient and powerful method for characterizing and discriminating donkey meat.

Characterization of Volatile Compounds in Donkey Meat by Gas Chromatography–Ion Mobility Spectrometry (GC–IMS) Combined with Chemometrics

“…2 ), including 2-pentanone (ROAV=78.21–100.00), hexanal (ROAV=17.35–39.35), nonanal (ROAV=16.95–55.09), octanal (ROAV=15.01–38.63), 3-methylbutanal (ROAV=9.48–25.84), heptanal (ROAV= 3.74–14.98), acetone (ROAV=2.58–10.22), 2-butanone (ROAV=2.82–4.10), ethyl acetate (ROAV=1.08–3.20), and 2-octanol (ROAV=0.59–2.02). This is consistent with our previous study, in which heptanal, 1-octen-3-ol, ethyl acetate, and hexanal with OAVs≥1 were determined to be the predominant flavor compounds in donkey meat ( Man et al, 2023b ). The characteristic flavors of meats and their products has been extensively analyzed in recent years ( Sohail et al, 2022 ).…”

“…A FlavourSpec ® Flavour HS–GC–IMS instrument (Shandong Haineng Scientific Instrument, Shandong, China) was used to analyze the donkey meat samples. Analysis method for the VOCs in samples based on relevant references with few modifications ( Man et al, 2023b ). Briefly, a 1.5 g minced meat sample was placed into a 20 mL headspace vial and incubated at 60°C for 15 min.…”

GC-IMS and multivariate analyses of volatile organic components in different Chinese breeds of chickens

“…Notably, 3-methylbutyl acetate, 3-methylbutanoic acid, 2-pentanone D, 2-heptanone D, 1-hexanol, phenylacetaldehyde, 2-butanone, and ethanol exhibited significant differences between the four breeds. These findings indicate that GC-IMS analysis can rapidly distinguish between chicken meat samples from the four breeds, consistent with previous studies on different pork and donkey meat varieties [ 22 , 25 ].…”

“…Previous studies have shown that the VOCs in meat are breed-dependent [ 22 , 32 ]. Our present study aligns with these findings and reveals that VOCs in chicken meat are also breed-dependent.…”

“…For instance, Li et al [ 21 ] used GC-IMS combined with PCA to investigate differences in volatile flavor profiles in raw milk during refrigerated storage. Man et al [ 22 ] studied the volatile flavor profiles in different breeds of donkey meat by GC-IMS and chemometrics. Altogether, it is clear that GC-IMS and multivariate statistical analysis can collectively examine VOC profiles in meat.…”