Article

Distinguishing aroma profile of highly-marbled beef according to quality grade using electronic nose sensors data and chemometrics approach

Dicky Tri Utama1,2, Aera Jang1, Gur Yoo Kim1, Sun Moon Kang3, Sung Ki Lee1,*
Author Information & Copyright
1Department of Applied Animal Science, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Korea.
2Department of Animal Product Technology, Faculty of Animal Husbandry, Universitas Padjadjaran, Jatinangor 45363, Indonesia.
3Department of Animal Products Development and Utilization, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration, Wanju 55365, Korea.
*Corresponding Author: Sung Ki Lee, Department of Applied Animal Science, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Korea. Phone: +82-33-250-8646. E-mail: skilee@kangwon.ac.kr.

© Copyright 2022 Korean Society for Food Science of Animal Resources. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Received: Oct 18, 2021 ; Revised: Dec 22, 2021 ; Accepted: Dec 27, 2021

Published Online: Jan 04, 2022

Abstract

Fat deposition in animal muscles differs according to the genetics and muscle anatomical locations. Moreover, different fat to lean muscle ratios (quality grade) might contribute to aroma development in highly marbled beef. Scientific evidence is required to determine whether the abundance of aroma volatiles is positively correlated with the amount of fat in highly marbled beef. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of quality grade on beef aroma profile using electronic nose data and a chemometric approach. An electronic nose with metal oxide semiconductors was used, and discrimination was performed using multivariate analysis, including principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering. The M. longissimus lumborum (striploin) of quality grade (QG) 1++, 1+, 1, and 2 of Hanwoo steers (n = 6), finished under identical feeding systems on similar farms, were used. In contrast to the proportion of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), the abundance of volatile compounds and the proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) decreased as the quality grade increased. The aroma profile of striploin from carcasses of different quality grades was well-discriminated. QG1++ was close to QG1+, while QG1 and QG2 were within a cluster. In conclusion, aroma development in beef is strongly influenced by fat deposition, particularly the fat-to-lean muscle ratio with regard to the proportion of PUFA. As MUFA slows down the oxidation and release of volatile compounds, leaner beef containing a higher proportion of PUFA produces more volatile compounds than beef with a higher amount of intramuscular fat.

Keywords: Hierarchical clustering; Lipid oxidation; Marbling; Multivariate analysis; Principal component analysis