Preliminary study on volatile flavor compounds of silver carp meat by HS-SPME coupled with GC-MS and GC-O

To survey silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) meat flavor, the volatile compounds were extracted and concentrated by headspace solid phase micro extraction (HS-SPME), and evaluated by gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O), and were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in this study. GC-O was performed by a group of eight assessors using the detection frequency methods, and the odors of detected compounds were described as well. Twenty-nine volatile compounds were identified by GC-MS, among those most of them were carbonyls and alcohols, the percentage of which is up to 88%. According to detection frequency analysis, twelve volatile compounds and four unknown compounds possessed odor activity in silver carp meat. They are characterized by fishy, grassy, metallic, oil oxidation and mushroom odors, respectively. Their synergistic action formed the characterized odor of silver carp meat.