Hexanal as an Indicator of Meat Flavor Deterioration

Pentanal and hexanal were the dominant volatile aldehydes generated from cooked pork during 3 weeks of refrigerated storage. Moreover, hexanal concentrations may serve as an index of meat flavor deterioration (MFD) during the early stages of storage; its concentration increased more rapidly than any other aldehyde. During the first 6 days, contribution of pentanal and hexanal to the total volatile aldehydes increased linearly by 350 and 650%, respectively, after which, their concentrations declined quite markedly. Reactions of pentanal and hexanal with meat components and/or their further oxidation may be responsible for this observation. Therefore, caution should be exercised when using hexanal as an indicator of lipid oxidation and MFD since a given hexanal level may correspond with two different points during storage of cooked meats.