Effect of enzymatic hydrolysis with subsequent mild thermal oxidation of tallow on precursor formation and sensory profiles of beef flavours assessed by partial least squares regression

Effects of different pretreatments of tallow on flavour precursor development and flavour profiles of beef flavours (BFs) were evaluated. Analysis of free fatty acids and volatiles of tallow by GC and GC–MS indicated that the enzymatic hydrolyzed–thermally oxidized tallow formed the most characteristic flavour precursors compared with others. The results of descriptive sensory analysis confirmed that beef flavour 4 from enzymatic hydrolyzed–thermally oxidized tallow had the strongest beefy, meaty and odour characteristics, followed by beef flavour 2 from oxidized tallow. Electronic nose data confirmed the accuracy of the sensory analysis results. The correlation analysis of 51 volatile compounds in tallow and sensory attributes of BFs showed that some compounds, especially aldehydes, made a significant contribution to sensory attributes. Correlation analysis of free fatty acids and sensory attributes through partial least squares regression (PLSR) confirmed that the moderate enzymatic hydrolysis-thermal oxidation pretreatment of tallow was necessary to achieve the characteristic beef flavour.