In the study, the changes of protein resulting from hydrolysis and oxidation, and flavor formation were investigated during cured camel meat preparation. Sulfhydryl content decreased significantly ( P < 0.05), while total carbonyl content and protein surface hydrophobicity increased markedly ( P < 0.05), and free amino acids, nucleotides, and low-molecular-weight peptides were found to accumulate, indicating that proteins underwent hydrolysis and oxidation, facilitating degradation into small molecules and flavor precursors during cured camel meat preparing. Meanwhile, HS-SPME-GC×GC-ToFMS identified 937 distinct volatile compounds, including key aroma constituents in cured camel meat such as 2,3-butanedione (ROAV: 100), (E)-2-nonenal (ROAV: 0.01-5.31), heptanal (ROAV: 0.17-1.06), 2-undecanone (ROAV: 0.00 -1.55), and 2912 proteins were determined by proteomics. And Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis revealed that several predominant biological processes including peptide, protein, and nucleotide metabolic process, which are mechanistically linked to generation of key flavor compounds. There were 14 pathways by KEGG enrichment analysis, which involved degradation of proteins including metabolic pathway, tryptophan and glutathione metabolism, and arginine biosynthesis. Meanwhile, 14 differential proteins showed a significant negative correlation with 2,3-butanedione ( P < 0.05), and 4 taste-active compounds showed a significant negative correlation with (E)-2-nonenal ( P < 0.05), demonstrating that protein degradation products constituted a key contributor to the volatile flavor substances in cured camel meat. Proteins play an important role in flavor formation in meat products, and this study provides preliminary insights into the relationship between aroma characteristics and protein composition in cured camel meat. • Proteins degradation were precursors for flavor formation in cured camel meat. • Four key aroma compounds during cured camel meat processing were elucidated. • Total 326 differential proteins in cured camel meat were analyzed by proteomics. • Correlation were clarified to reveal contribution of proteins degradation to flavor.
Guo et al. (Fri,) studied this question.