Based on sensory evaluation, E-nose, and GC-IMS analysis of volatile component differences in various kinds of sheep fats

Sheep fat has broad applications across various industries, including food processing and medicine. To explore variations in volatile profiles across different sheep fat types, sensory evaluation, electronic nose (E-nose) technology combined with gas chromatography-ion mobility spectroscopy (GC-IMS) was employed to identify and characterise volatile components. In addition, chemometric approaches were utilised to further delineate the differences among the analysed samples. GC-IMS analysis detected a total of 58 volatile substances, encompassing monomers and their corresponding dimers. Comparative analysis revealed that while qualitative similarities existed across volatile profiles, substantial quantitative differences were noted among the various fat samples. Through the application of PCA, orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), and variable importance in projection (VIP) analysis, 25 volatile compounds. These findings highlight the distinctive volatile profiles present in various sheep fat samples and offer theoretical and methodological guidance for quality assessment and volatile compound analysis in sheep-derived oils and fats.