Effects of frozen storage on the quality and volatile flavor components of duck breast

This study investigated the effects of dietary fishmeal addition on the quality, lipid oxidation and flavor profile of duck breasts stored under vacuum freezing for 21 days. Addition of fish meal resulted in increased cooking loss and shear, indicating reduced water holding capacity and tenderness. Lipid oxidation was significantly higher in the fish meal group as measured by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (malondialdehyde content), which is consistent with the susceptibility of polyunsaturated fatty acid to oxidative degradation. Volatile base nitrogen also increased over time, indicating protein deterioration and reduced freshness. Flavor analysis showed that supplementation of fishmeal altered the distribution of volatile compounds, with an increase in esters, alcohols and acids and a decrease in aldehydes. Major flavor markers such as hexanal, nonanal and 1-octen-3-ol were identified by partial least squares discriminant analysis and variable importance in projection analysis. Heat map analysis confirmed that lipid oxidation products accumulated more rapidly in the fishmeal group, especially during late storage. These findings suggest that fishmeal can negatively affect meat quality and accelerate oxidative deterioration while increasing nutritional value, thus requiring the addition of antioxidants to feed formulations to balance nutritional value.