Influence of thermal processing on flavor and sensory profile of sturgeon meat

Sensory analysis and instrumental techniques were used to investigate the effect of thermal processing on sturgeon meat flavor. A lexicon consisted of 26 descriptors was established for the sensory evaluation of raw and steamed sturgeon meat (4, 8, 12, 16, 20 min at 100 °C). Ten odor attributes generated by Check-all-that-apply and Free Choice Profiling methods were selected as characteristic descriptors, which were “fishy, meaty, oily/fatty, salty, umami, ammonia/rancid, grass, fresh, earthy, and visceral”. Aroma compounds were extracted by headspace-solid phase micro extraction (HS-SPME). A total of 63 and 62 volatiles were identified by gas chromatography equipped with mass spectrometry and olfactometry (GC-MS-O) and GC-ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS). Phospholipids accounted for 67.05% in 173 differential metabolites identified via untargeted metabolomics. 47 kinds of phosphatidylethanolamines were significantly correlated with the formation of aldehydes. This study provides a theoretical basis for regulating the flavor formation of thermal-processed aquatic products.