Analysis of volatile components changes of Ruditapes philippinarumduring boiling by HS-GC-IMS coupled with multivariate analyses

Boiling is an effective way to enhance the shellfish flavor. Headspace-Gas Chromatography-Ion Mobility Spectrum (HS-GC-IMS) coupled with multivariate analyses was applied to illustrate the effect of boiling on volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of Ruditapes philippinarum. Quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA) was applied to evaluate the aroma profile of Ruditapes philippinarumduring boiling. The correlation between VOCs and aroma properties of Ruditapes philippinarumwas also built through partial least-squares regression (PLSR) model. In this study, the flavor fingerprint was built to distinguish raw and different boiled samples through HS-GC-IMS. The 62 VOCs were totally identified, including 21 alcohols, 10 aldehydes, 10 ketones, 9 esters and 4 sulfur-containing compounds. Boiling significantly enhanced the pleasant seafood-like aroma by producing esters and reduced the sea sand-like aroma by decreasing the concentration of sulfur-containing compounds. The 10–15 min was the transitional stage for producing flavor, while heating over 20 min produced more unpleasant odorants. These results indicated that boiling was vital to improve the flavor quality of shellfish.