Effect of Heating Temperature on the Flavor Quality of Xinjiang Spicy Chicken Seasoning Sauce Investigated by Sensory Evaluation Combined with GC-MS and OPLS-DA

In order to explore the influence of different heating temperatures on the composition of aroma substances and the sensory attribute intensity of Xinjiang spicy chicken seasoning sauce, descriptive sensory evaluation and headspace solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS) were used to analyze the volatile components of the seasoning sauces without heating and heated at 100 and 150 ℃, and their sensory attribute intensities were quantitatively compared. In addition, orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) and variable importance in projection (VIP) values were used to select and verify the key differential substances among the sauces with different heat treatments. The results showed that different heating temperatures significantly affected the sensory characteristics of Xinjiang spicy chicken seasoning sauce. By GC-MS, 6 volatile substances including hydrocarbons, aldehydes, esters, alcohols, ketones and others were detected, and 16 key differential flavor substances which were significantly affected by heating temperature were selected by OPLS-DA, including terpenes (eucalyptol, terpinolene and α-pinacol), aldehydes and alcohols. With the increase in heating temperature, the contents of terpenes (such as limonene and basil) increased first and then decreased, which were positively correlated with the fresh aroma and tongue-numbing taste of Xinjiang spicy chicken seasoning sauce. However, the contents of aldehydes such as hexanal and (E)-2-octenal significantly increased, resulting in unpleasant off-flavors such as fatty and metallic odors. The above results show that temperature is one of the key factors in the directional control of flavor quality in the industrial processing of Xinjiang spicy chicken seasoning sauce. The findings of the present study provide a basic theoretical basis for the directional optimization of flavor quality and process improvement in the production of Xinjiang spicy chicken seasoning sauce.