UNASSIGNED: In Northeast China, Dorper and Australian White rams are commonly crossbred with small-tailed Han (STH) ewes to improve the offspring\'s meat yield and quality. However, the differences in traits and the flavor between the crossbred sheep and STH sheep remain unclear. In addition, the candidate genes potentially influencing the meat quality in the three sheep breeds require further verification.
UNASSIGNED: A total of 18 2-month-old healthy rams were raised over a period of 5 months, which included 6 STH, 6 Dorper and small-tailed Han crossbred (Do × STH), and 6 Australian white and small-tailed Han crossbred (Au × STH) offspring. The differences in slaughter, meat quality traits, fatty acid and amino acid composition in the muscular longissimus dorsi (MLD), and volatile compounds in the semitendinosus muscle were compared between the sheep breeds. The candidate genes related to intramuscular fat (IMF) content and fatty acids were validated.
UNASSIGNED: The results of this study revealed that the crossbred sheep had higher body weight, carcass weight, bone weight, net meat weight, and IMF content than the STH sheep (p < 0.05). The Do × STH offspring had a higher pH value (24 h), moisture content, and cooking percentage; they also had redder and brighter meat color. The content of myristate, palmitic, and margaric acids in the crossbred sheep was higher than that in the STH sheep (p < 0.05). The Do × STH offspring had the highest saturated fatty acid content (p < 0.05). The Au × STH offspring had the highest protein content (p < 0.05). The arachidonic acid and amino acid (Asp, Ala, Ile, Leu, Lys, Thr, and essential amino acid) contents were higher in the STH sheep than in the crossbred sheep (p < 0.05). The odor activity value (OAV) analysis showed that most of the aldehydes in the Au × STH offspring had higher values. The PDK4 gene expression was positively associated with the IMF content and was negatively correlated with the linoleic acid content in the Do × STH sheep (p < 0.05). The TMEM273 gene expression was positively associated with linoleic and arachidonic acid contents and was negatively correlated with oleic and palmitic acid contents in the Do × STH sheep (p < 0.05).
UNASSIGNED: The results showed the differences between the crossbred sheep and STH sheep and provided the candidate genes related to meat quality in sheep.

Traditional Korean fermented soy paste (doenjang) has various health benefits; however, its intense umami flavor might interfere with global acceptance. Herbs-supplemented (HS) doenjang, coriander (CS), Korean mint (KMS), and peppermint (PMS), during fermentation was evaluated for its organoleptic properties. The levels of most free amino acids in HS doenjang, known to impart intense flavor, were decreased, including aspartic acid and glutamine. γ-Aminobutyric acid levels increased, whereas 2-pentylfuran levels significantly decreased in KMS and PMS doenjang (p < 0.05). The decrease in the levels of total free sugars, especially glucose, acetic acid, and fumaric acid, and the increase in lactic acid levels reflected in the desirable sour taste. Sensory evaluation corresponded to these alterations, judged superior most of sensorial attributes both by the Korean and foreigner panel particularly in KMS doenjang. Changed amount of chemical components, e.g. asparagine and glutamine of HS doenjang decreased strong umami flavor, it further affected sensory properties.

To improve the overall sensory evaluation of regular coffee, a mixture of β-CD/flavour CD powder was prepared by a freeze-drying method. Cyclodextrin inclusion complexes consist of eight compounds that are naturally present in coffee, specifically: 2,5-dimethylpyrazine, benzaldehyde, citral, linalool, limonene, phenethyl acetate, furfural, and ethyl acetate. These eight compounds naturally occur in coffee, making them safer than using other compounds. Moreover, these eight compounds are the primary active ingredients in coffee, significantly influencing its flavour profile. Therefore, choosing to complex these eight compounds with cyclodextrins can effectively enhance the taste of the coffee. XRD, FT-IR, and SDE-GC-FID were presented to study the formation of inclusion CD powder, the storage stability, chemical composition changes, and safety. Results show that by the cyclodextrin method of freeze-drying, the CD powder showed a stable encapsulated structure and increased stability of flavour compounds. Based on the coffee aroma analysis results, prepared CD powder can enhance the coffee\'s aroma score by 3.0-4.0 points and increase the flavour score by 2.1-3.5 points, and it can achieve preservation for a minimum of 181 days at 25 °C. Furthermore, under the requirements of the China national standard for additives, the mixture of β-CD/flavour CD powder was used for the cup testing with four regular coffees to obtain improved coffees. With the full score is 10, improved coffees could score extra 3.0-4.0 points on aroma and 2.1-3.5 on flavour compared to regular coffee. In addition, the CD powder also improves the quality of the coffee in terms of aftertaste, body, and sweetness. Overall, β-CD/flavour CD powders provide several advantages over the currently popular coffee bean processing methods, including improved reproducibility, enhanced controllability, and increased flexibility, while prioritizing safety. And it should be explored further with appropriate compounds given its potential for coffee aroma modulation.

Tilapia is suitable for industrial roasting production because of its good flavor and processing adaptability. In this study, the key physicochemical properties and volatile compounds for sensory formation of roasted tilapia were identified after roasting condition optimization. The highest sensory score was obtained at 215 °C, 45 min, and 4% oil. During roasting, the a*, b*, hardness, chewiness, and oxidation of proteins and lipids significantly increased, the moisture content decreased, and the myofibrillar protein aggregation was observed by scanning electron microscope. After identification and quantification by headspace-gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry, 10 compounds with odor active value ≥1 were selected as characteristic flavor compounds. The correlation network indicated that the sensory formation mainly resulted from Maillard reaction, myofibrillar protein aggregation, and improvement of pleasant volatile flavor compounds induced by oxidation of proteins and lipids and water loss. This study provides an important theoretical basis and technical support for roasted tilapia production.

Because of the poor stability and rheological properties of fat-free stirred yogurt fortified with fruit pulp, new functional polysaccharides as a natural emulsifier, which can increase viscosity in the aqueous phase, may be needed. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of Exidia yadongensis polysaccharide (EYP) as emulsifier on the stability, aroma, and antioxidant activities of mango buffalo yogurt at 4 °C for 25 days. The yogurt with 15 g/L EYP gave a higher content of 215 g/L total solids, 11.3 g/L exopolysaccharides, 0.10 g/L total polyphenols, 630.5 g/L water-holding capacity, and 11.43 g/kg total free amino acids, and maintained better texture, DPPH scavenging activity of 54.05 % and OH scavenging rates of 67.16 %. Moreover, the EYP exhibited the expected ability to weaken postacidification, syneresis, and growth of microorganism, and greatly promote the textural, rheological properties, suspension stability, microstructure, and aroma profiles of stirred mango-flavored buffalo yogurt (p < 0.05). In addition, the addition of 15 g/L EYP can inhibit protein degradation and improve the stability of secondary structure of the protein complex in mango yogurt during 25 days of storage. Therefore, EYP (15 g/L) could be used as natural positive functional factors and emulsifiers in such fat-free stirred yogurt industry.

The present study was carried out to investigate the proximate composition, fatty acid (FA) profile and volatile compounds (VC) of cooked green licuri (Syagrus coronata) - an unripe stage that is then cooked - and naturally ripe licuri almonds. The FA profiles were determined by gas chromatography (GC) and the VC composition was evaluated using headspace-solid-phase microextraction coupled with GC-MS. The cooked green licuri presented higher moisture, and lower contents of ashes, proteins and lipids than naturally ripe licuri almonds. The FA profiles of cooked green licuri and naturally ripe licuri almonds showed that saturated FAs were predominant (80%) in both samples, and the concentrations of lauric, palmitic, and oleic acids in naturally ripe licuri almonds were higher than those in cooked green licuri. Limonene was the predominant compound in naturally ripe licuri almonds. The main class of VC in the cooked green licuri were aldehydes, with 3-methyl-butanal and furfural being the main species. Alcohols, such as 3-methyl-butanol and 2-heptanol, were the main class of VC in naturally ripe licuri almonds. Among the volatile compounds, 1-hexanol and 2-nonanone contributed to the aroma of cooked green licuri almonds, whereas 2-heptanone, ethanol, and limonene contributed to the aroma of naturally ripe licuri almonds (almonds not subjected to any cooking process). In a word, cooked green licuri and naturally riped licuri almonds, despite having different proximate compositions, present similar fatty acid profile and distinct aromatic characteristics. Therefore, cooked green licuri and naturally riped licuri almonds are an alternative source of nutrient and could be investigated for the use in the food industry to enhance flavor and aroma to new products.

The effects of three strains of lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, and Streptococcus thermophilus) on viable counts, physicochemical indicators, phenolic profiles, antioxidant capacities, and volatile compounds in purple sweet potato juice were investigated during fermentation. The results showed the viable count of three bacteria increased and exceeded 11 log CFU/mL after fermentation. At the end of fermentation, the purple sweet potato juice exhibited an increase in total phenolic and flavonoid content. In addition, lactic acid bacteria fermentation changed the phenolic profiles and enhanced antioxidant capacities. Moreover, Pearson\'s correlation analysis showed that DPPH, ABTS, and hydroxyl radical scavenging capacities were positively correlated with caffeic acid and vanillic acid content (p < 0.05). Furthermore, lactic acid bacteria fermentation improved the aroma complexity and sensory quality of purple sweet potato juice. In conclusion, this study provided useful information for the development of purple sweet potato juice fermented by lactic acid bacteria.
UNASSIGNED: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13197-024-05959-5.

Fruit wine is one of the oldest fermented beverages made from non-grape fruits. Owing to the differences in fruit varieties, growing regions, climates, and harvesting seasons, the nutritional compositions of fruits (sugars, organic acids, etc.) are different. Therefore, the fermentation process and microorganisms involved are varied for a particular fruit selected for wine production, resulting in differences in volatile compound formation, which ultimately determine the quality of fruit wine. This article reviews the effects of various factors involved in fruit wine making, especially the particular modifications differing from the grape winemaking process and the selected strains suitable for the specific fruit wine fermentation, on the formation of volatile compounds, flavor and aroma profiles, and quality characteristics of the wine thus produced. KEY POINTS: • The volatile profile and fruit wine quality are affected by enological parameters. • The composition and content of nutrients in fruit must impact volatile profiles. • Yeast and LAB are the key determining factors of the volatile profiles of fruit wines.

Gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS) is a smart method that has been applied to determine the volatile compounds in Chinese teas, but its use in comparing the volatile compounds of different types of tea has not been mentioned. In this study, the volatile compounds found in four types of samples (green, yellow, white, and black teas) made with fresh leaves of Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze \'Zhongcha 111\' were analyzed using GC-IMS. The results showed that 93 volatile compounds were identified from our tea samples and that the average volume of aldehydes was higher than that for other compounds, especially in white tea. The different samples were successfully categorized using multivariate statistical analysis. Using partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), we found 15 key compounds, including four differential components: (E)-2-hexenal, 2-furanmethanethio, 2-hexanol, and 1-octene. There were 29 common components, and their total content reached 386.0 μg/g. Moreover, the 3-methyl-2-butenal and dimethyl disulfide detected in the four samples were also differential compounds, varying according to the manufacturing technology. Thus, this study demonstrates that different types of teas can be discriminated easily using GC-IMS and that this is helpful to shorten the time for improving tea quality and developing new products.

Because of its peculiar flavor, chili oil is widely used in all kinds of food and is welcomed by people. Chili pepper is an important raw material affecting its quality, and commercial chili oil needs to meet various production needs, so it needs to be made with different chili peppers. However, the current compounding method mainly relies on the experience of professionals and lacks the basis of objective numerical analysis. In this study, the chroma and capsaicinoids of different chili oils were analyzed, and then the volatile components were determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography-ion migration spectrometer (GC-IMS) and electronic nose (E-nose). The results showed that Zidantou chili oil had the highest L*, b*, and color intensity (ΔE) (52.76 ± 0.52, 88.72 ± 0.89, and 118.84 ± 1.14), but the color was tended to be greenyellow. Xinyidai chili oil had the highest a* (65.04 ± 0.2). But its b* and L* were relatively low (76.17 ± 0.29 and 45.41 ± 0.16), and the oil was dark red. For capsaicinoids, Xiaomila chili oil had the highest content of capsaicinoids was 2.68 ± 0.07 g/kg, Tianjiao chili oil had the lowest content of capsaicinoids was 0.0044 ± 0.0044 g/kg. Besides, 96 and 54 volatile flavor substances were identified by GC-MS and GC-IMS respectively. And the main volatile flavor substances of chili oil were aldehydes, alcohols, ketones, and esters. A total of 11 key flavor compounds were screened by the relative odor activity value (ROAV). Moguijiao chili oil and Zidantou chili oil had a prominent grass aroma because of hexanal, while Shizhuhong chili oil, Denglongjiao chili oil, Erjingtiao chili oil, and Zhoujiao chili oil had a prominent floral aroma because of 2, 3-butanediol. Chili oils could be well divided into 3 groups by the partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). According to the above results, the 10 kinds of chili oil had their own characteristics in color, capsaicinoids and flavor. Based on quantitative physicochemical indicators and flavor substances, the theoretical basis for the compounding of chili oil could be provided to meet the production demand more scientifically and accurately.