Characterizing the Volatile Profile and Flavor of Four Kinds of Hotpot Seasonings in China Using HS‐GC‐MS, HS‐GC‐IMS, and Sensory Evaluation

Abstract

Hotpot is a distinctive dish of East Asian cuisine, especially in China. Herein, headspace-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, headspace-gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry, and sensory evaluation are applied to compare the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of four types of hotpot seasoning oils (HSOs) and establish their characteristic fingerprints. A total of 203 VOCs are detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Among them, linalool, anethole, and estragole contribute to the overall aroma of all four HSOs (relative odor activity value ≥ 0.1). Gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS) results reveal that 77 VOCs are identified, comprising 19 terpenoids, 18 aldehydes, 14 alcohols, 13 esters, 6 ketones, 3 acids, 2 furans, 1 pyrazine, and 1 sulfide. Meanwhile, principal component analysis demonstrates that GC-IMS is an important tool for the rapid classification of hotpot seasonings. Finally, the sensory evaluation team concludes that the horse fat hotpot seasoning has promising development prospects. This study validates the applicability of GC-IMS and GC-MS for distinguishing VOCs in hotpots, and the findings provide a theoretical basis for flavor differentiation in HSOs. Practical Applications: Horse oil is significantly lower in cholesterol than butter, and thus possesses potential benefits for human health. This study provides a basis to produce horse oil hotpots and a reference for identifying the VOCs in HSOs.

Flavor Quality Analysis of Ten Actinidia arguta Fruits Based on High-Performance Liquid Chromatography and Headspace Gas Chromatography–Ion Mobility Spectrometry

“…The content of ketones ranged from 1281.44 µg/kg to 2499.92 µg/kg, accounting for 7.54-18.23% of the total volatile components, with the highest content in 'Cuiyu' and the lowest in 'Kuilv'. The ketones detected in the fruits of the 10 A. arguta varieties were mainly 1-penten-3-one, 2-pentanone, and acetone, which had a green, pungent, buttery flavor [29,30].…”

“…Various methods have been used to detect volatile compounds in food, such as gas chromatography-olfactometry-mass spectrometry (GC-O-MS), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), headspace solid-phase microextraction, and gas chromatographyion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS) [28]. Among them, GC-MS is the most widely used method for aroma analysis, but it has some drawbacks such as complex sample preprocessing and potential distortion [29,30]. GC-IMS is a novel method based on the differences in the migration speed of gas-phase ions in an electric field, which can achieve high separation and low detection limit, and has been widely applied in food volatile analysis [31][32][33].…”