Odour‐active compounds of Jinhua ham

Using DHS, SAFE, GC–O and GC–MS, the odour-active compounds of Jinhua ham were identified and ranked according their odour potencies. For DHS, the ham powder was purged with a nitrogen stream at a flow rate of 50 ml/min for 25 min, 5 min and 1 min, respectively. The effluent of sample headspace was trapped by a Tenax tube, which was placed onto the vessel for GC–O. The most important odorants (FD factor = 125) in Jinhua ham headspace were ethyl 2-methylbutanoate/ethyl 3-methylbutanoate, hexanal, 1-hexen-3-one, 1-octen-3-one, 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline and 2-methoxyphenol, followed by the following odorants (FD factor = 25): 3-methyl butanal, dimethyl trisulphide, 1-nonen-3-one, butanoic acid, phenylacetaldehyde, 3-methylbutanoic acid, 2-methyl(3-methyldithio)furan, γ-nonalctone and 4-methylphenol (p-cresol). For SAFE, the ham powder was extracted with diethyl ether, distilled by SAFE and then separated into neutral/basic and acidic fractions. Both fractions were subjected to AEDA. The relatively high-odour impact compounds (Log3FD Factor ≤5) of the N/B fraction of SAFE extract of Jinhua ham were 1-octen-one, ethyl 3-methylbutanoate, methional, phenylacetaldehyde, 2-phenylethanol, (E)-4,5-epoxy-(E)-decenal, p-cresol (4-methylphenol); 3-methylbutanal, hexanal, 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, decanal, (E,Z)-2,6-nonadienal and (E,E)-decadienal. The important odorants of the Ac fraction of SAFE extract of Jinhua ham were butanoic acid, 3-methylbutanoic acid, hexanoic acid, phenylacetic acid and an unknown. It was shown that the aroma of Jinhua ham consisted of a variety of compounds having different odour properties; a single compound could not characterize the aroma of Jinhua ham. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.