Capillary Gas Chromatography‐Mass Spectrometric Analysis of Cooked Ground Beef Aroma

Representative samples of cooked ground beef aroma were isolated onto Tenax TA. Fractionation using capillary GC showed that a cooked meaty odor was associated with only four aroma fractions. These contained relatively high boiling components, and 31 locations on the gas chromatogram were anchored by meaty descriptions using GC odor port assessment. Several of the components identified by GC‐MS have not been reported previously from heated beef. They comprise some compounds contributing meaty character e.g. 2‐methyl‐3‐(methylthio)furan and 3‐methylcyclopentanone. Several unsaturated alicyclic ketones present resemble the cyclohexenones previously shown to be significant in meaty aroma.