Development of Analysis Condition and Detection of Volatile Compounds from Cooked Hanwoo Beef by SPME-GC/MS Analysis

The current study was designed to optimize solid phase microextraction (SPME)-GC-MS conditions for extraction and analysis of volatile components for Hanwoo beef and to establish a tentative database of flavor components. Samples were taken from Hanwoo longissimus muscle (30 mon old steer, 1+B carcass grade) at 24 h postmortem. Results indicated that the optimum adsorption time for 75 μm CAR/PDMS fiber was 60 min at 60℃. Thermal cleaning at 250℃ for 60 min was the best practice for decontamination of the fiber. A short analysis program with a sharp oven temperature ramp resulted in a better resolution and higher number of measurable volatile components. With these conditions, 96 volatile compounds were identified with little variation including 22 aldehydes, 8 ketones, 31 hydrocarbons, 12 alcohols, 8 nitrogen- and sulfur-containing compounds, 5 pyrazines and 10 furans. A noticeable observation was the high number of hydrocarbons, aldehydes, ketones, alcohols and 2-alkylfurans which were generated from lipid decomposition especially the oxidation and degradation of unsaturated and saturate fatty acids. This implies that these compounds can be candidates for flavor specification of highly marbled beef such as Hanwoo flavor.