The beneficial effects of grape seed, sage and oregano extracts on the quality and volatile flavor component of hairtail fish balls during cold storage at 4 °C

Abstract Fishy odor was always generated in hairtail fish balls, decreasing the quality and reducing commercial acceptance. Improving the flavor of hairtail fish balls is a challenge in recent seafood industry. Extracts from sage leaves, oregano leaves and grape seeds (SOG) were proved to be effective in reducing the fishy odor in hairtail fish balls. The primary antioxidants were catechin, epicatechin and rosmarinic acid in SOG with the antioxidant capacity of 0.09 ± 0.01 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/mL. Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) showed that about 50% volatility off-flavor compounds including aldehydes, ketones, alcohols and hydrocarbons, were reduced by the application of SOG. Inhibition of fishy odor by SOG was directly related with the reduced thiobarbituric acid reactive substances value (TBARs value) and total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N), which was likely due to the decreased lipid oxidation and bacteria growth, respectively. These results suggested the beneficial potential for SOG in inhibiting fishy odor formation and improving flavor of hairtail fish balls during storage.