Research Progress on Flavor Characteristics of Strong Fragrance Spices and Their Effects on Flavor Formation of Meat Products

Strong-aroma natural spices are characterized by their strong aroma, possessing aromatic and irritating properties, with the main components being aromatic compounds. Typical representatives include star anise, cinnamon, fennel, and cloves. The aforementioned strong-aroma natural spices are widely used both domestically and internationally, especially in soy sauce stewed meat products and fermented meat products. Nonetheless, current research on the aroma-imparting and flavor-presenting mechanisms of natural spices remains insufficiently in-depth and systematic. This paper bases on a review of relevant domestic and international research in recent years, systematically summarizes the flavor analysis methods, flavor characteristics, and key flavor components of typical strong-aroma natural spices. It concurrently discusses their impact on the flavor formation of meat products: spice flavor components can influence the flavor of soy sauce stewed meat products by directly migrating into the food or by improving the flavor of fermented meat products through inhibiting fat oxidation and anti-bacterial effects. Building on this, the paper further elucidates the aroma-imparting and flavor-presenting mechanisms of strong-aroma natural spices, encompassing direct migration of flavor components into food for aroma enhancement, aroma-generating reactions between spice components and food matrices, inhibition of flavor precursor oxidation processes, and suppression of spoilage bacteria growth to ameliorate undesirable flavor formation. The summary of the flavor characteristics and aroma-imparting mechanisms of strong-aroma natural spices facilitates researchers in delving into the mechanisms by which these spices regulates food flavor formation and provides a reference for food enterprises, particularly meat product manufacturers, in further rational development and utilization of natural spices.