Selected Ion Flow Tube-Mass Spectrometry for Absolute Quantification of Aroma Compounds in the Headspace of Dry Fermented Sausages

Abstract

The meat industry is interested in rapid control of the sensory quality of meat products. Selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS) has been applied to the rapid, real-time quantification of 31 volatile aroma compounds present in the headspace (HS) of dry fermented sausages. Three batches of fermented sausages with different fat contents (10, 20, and 30%) were monitored throughout the processing time. SIFT-MS revealed significant changes in the concentration of all the aroma compounds during the processing time. Moreover, among the various batches of the sausages, significant differences were revealed in their HS concentration of butanal, 2-pentenal, hexanal, 2-butanone, 2,3-butanedione, ethanol, ethyl formate, hexanoic acid, and dimethyl disulfide. In addition, highly volatile compounds were detected and quantified using our real-time SIFT-MS technique that are apparently not generally seen by trace gas extraction and GC techniques.

Direct Analysis Mass Spectrometry

“…Several studies of meat and meat products have also been done, where SIFT-MS has been used to quantify aroma compounds in comparison to conventional analytical techniques [141][142][143]. Methods have also been developed using SIFT-MS to examine the spoilage and storage effects on fish and fish products, including cod [144], grey shrimp [145,146], packaged fillets [147] and brown shrimp [148].…”

Real Time Detection of Aroma Compounds in Meat and Meat Products by SIFT-MS and Comparison to Conventional Techniques (SPME-GC-MS)

“…The analysis of volatile compounds in the headspace (HS) of meat samples was done as described by Olivares et al [5]. The fermented sausages and beef meat were minced (crushed) in liquid nitrogen and 0.75 mg of antioxidant (butylated hydroxytoluene, BHT) was added.…”

“…The vial was equilibrated and the volatile compounds were extracted by SPME using a 85 µm carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane StableFlex fibre (CAR/PDMS SF, Supelco, Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, USA), as described Olivares et al, [5]. The volatile compounds were analyzed using a gas chromatograph (HP 7890A) equipped with a DB- (Table 1).…”

“…The quantification of the volatile compounds by SIFT-MS in the headspace of fermented sausages and beef samples was carried out using the method previously described by Olivares et al [5] using the identical SIFT-MS Profile 3 instrument Table 1. The known rate coefficients for the analytical reactions were then used to quantify the absolute HS concentrations of the compounds using the general method of quantification [14] accounting for ionic diffusion and mass discrimination [16].…”

“…In the last few years the innovative selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS) analytical technique [1,2] has been used to analyse the volatile organic compounds emitted by foods in real time [3,4]. However, few analyses have focused on meat and meat products [5,6,7], but recently Olivares et al, [6] have investigated the correlations between SIFT-MS and GC-MS analyses of the volatiles emitted by fermenting sausages.…”