Effect of stewing time on the color, water distribution and contents of key volatile compounds in chicken

This study aimed to determine the color, water distribution and contents of key volatile compounds of chicken at different stewing times (0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2 and 2.5 h) through multiple technologies combined with sensory analysis. The L *, a *and b * values of the chicken increased from 0 to 0.5 h stewing, and then kept stable from 0.5 to 2.5 h. The total water level of the chicken decreased during the stewing process. T 21 , T 22 and T 23 changed significantly during 0-0.5 h stewing and did not exhibit an irregular change during 0.5-2 h stewing. The data for M 21 , M 22 and M 23 of chicken at different stewing times indicated that the change of bound water was not significant and the state of water changed from immobilized water to free water. Totally, thirty-seven volatile compounds in these samples were identified. 1-Octen-3-ol, 1-hexanol, nonanal and octanal were key volatile compounds in raw chicken meat, while 1-octen-3-ol, ( E, E )-2,4-decadienal, hexanal, nonanal and octanal were key volatile compounds in the stewed chicken. The Principal Component Analysis results of E -nose and E -tongue showed significant differences in chicken samples with different stewing times. The results of Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry data and sensory evaluation showed that the optimal stewing time for chicken was 1 h. The levels of all key volatile compounds, except 2-ethyl-1-hexanol and 1-hexanol, were negatively or positively correlated with the color values, E -nose data, E- tongue data, and sensory characteristics. The results can be used as the basis for the study of the volatile flavor compounds in the original chicken, and pave the way for subsequent high-quality Chinese herbal chicken research.