Elsevier

Food Research International

Volume 119, May 2019, Pages 839-849
Food Research International

Relationship between volatile compounds and consumer-based sensory characteristics of bacon smoked with different Brazilian woods

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2018.10.067Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Thirty-nine volatile compounds (VCs) were found in bacons, mainly aldehydes and phenols.

  • Most of the VCs have been related to the Eucalyptus-smoked bacon and the commercial sample.

  • Sensory attributes were significantly different between bacon samples.

  • Eucalyptus sample was perceived as woodsy and pleasant and Acacia sample as smoked.

  • Aldehydes, phenols and ketones were the VCs most related to woodsy and pleasant terms.

Abstract

Bacon is a product made from pork meat that is subjected to curing, drying, and smoking. Researchers aim to associate the worldwide high-acceptance of such a product with the sensory and chemical properties of bacon. In this context, the objective of the present study was to characterize bacon samples smoked with different woods from reforestation using chemical and sensory methodologies, which were subsequently correlated by means of statistical multi-block analysis. Volatile compounds (VCs) of the smoked bacons were studied using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), and the consumer sensory perception was explored by the Napping technique. VCs were identified in smoked samples, which triggered sensory attributes related to odor, flavor, and texture, such as “smoky flavor”, “salty taste”, “pleasant taste”, “woodsy flavor”, and “hard texture”. Multi-block analysis showed that the sensory attributes were associated with a group of VCs and not by a single compound.

Introduction

The sensory attributes related to the flavor of meat products can influence their acceptance and purchase intent (Calkins & Hodgen, 2007; Font-i-Furnols & Guerrero, 2014; Resano et al., 2011; Yu & Sun, 2005). The peculiar sensory characteristics of meat products are mainly related to the presence of volatile and non-volatile compounds that interact to generate the flavor of meat-based products (Khan, Jo, & Tariq, 2015). In this sense, in smoked products, such as bacon, lipid oxidation and Maillard reaction give rise to volatile compounds (Yu, Sun, Tian, & Qu, 2008), but smoking is the process that most influences the generation of volatile compounds (VCs), and consequently, the bacon flavor (Font-i-Furnols & Guerrero, 2014).

According to the Brazilian Regulation, smoking is a mandatory step in the manufacturing of bacon (Brasil, 2000). In this process, the meat is exposed to the smoke of wood chips that are pyrolysed until temperatures higher than 500 °C are achieved (Ledesma, Laca, Rendueles, & Díaz, 2016; Ledesma, Rendueles, & Díaz, 2017), leading to the generation of a series of volatile compounds (Aaslyng & Meinert, 2017). According to Flores (2010), aldehydes, pyridines, pyrazines, furans, alcohols, and ketones are the main aroma compounds found in bacon. An alternative to the generation of these compounds from the traditional smoking is the use of wood smoke condensates, commonly known as liquid smoke. The use of liquid smoke allows higher process control, eliminates carcinogenic compounds, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, giving much of the desired flavor and aroma of conventional smoking (Lingbeck et al., 2014).

Sensory characteristics and volatile compounds of smoked bacon mainly depend on the chemical composition of the wood used in smoking process (Montazeri, Himelbloom, Oliveira, Leigh, & Crapo, 2013). Since native flora must be preserved, the use of woods from reforestation seems to be suitable to smoke meat-based products. In Brazil, Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp.) is one of the most used woods in the smoking process (Lorenzo, Carballo, & Franco, 2013), since this species is the most representative among the woods from reforestation (about 75%) (IBGE, 2016). Other reforestation trees can also be used in the smoking process, such as Bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris), Acacia (A. mearnsii and A. mangium), Bracatinga (Mimosa scabrella), and Teak (Tectona grandis).

In order to get a better understanding of the bacon flavor it is necessary to find correlations between the sensory data and instrumental measurements. From an instrumental perspective, the volatile compounds are usually identified and quantified by gas chromatography (Azarnia, Boye, Warkentin, & Malcolmson, 2012). From a sensory standpoint, the descriptive analysis conducted by a trained panel is the most used method by the food industry to develop and control the sensory quality of products (Lawless & Heymann, 2010; Selani et al., 2016)

However, some authors have pointed out that the perception of a trained panel do not reflect the sensory perception of consumers (Saldaña et al., 2018; ten Kleij & Musters, 2003). Considering the high competitiveness of the current market, companies need to base their decisions on the consumer preferences in order to manufacture products with increased odds of success (Delarue, 2015). In this context, several alternative methods using potential consumers have been implemented to study the sensory characteristics of foods (Valentin, Chollet, & Lelie, 2012). Among these techniques, the Projective Mapping (PM) (Risvik, McEwan, Colwill, Rogers, & Lyon, 1994), later adapted and called Napping (Pagès, 2005), is a method of data collection, in which consumers project the products in a two-dimensional graph according to their similarities and differences (Nestrud & Lawless, 2008; Pagès, 2005; Perrin & Pagès, 2009; Risvik et al., 1994; Risvik, McEwan, & Rødbotten, 1997).

In spite of the relevance of flavor as an important quality factor of meat-based foods (Ulla, Antti, Oskar, & Mari, 2016), it is of pivotal importance to assess the relationship between consumer-based sensory properties and the volatile compounds of smoked bacon. Although Jeremiah, Ball, Uttaro, and Gibson (1996) have studied the relationship of chemical components with the flavor attributes of bacon, this work considered only trained assessors responses. Afterwards, Ai-Nong and Bao-Guo (2005) reported the bacon flavor considering only chemical properties. Recently, Saldaña et al. (2019) studied the descriptive and hedonic sensory perception of Brazilian consumers for smoked bacon, but these authors did not make any association between consumer perception and volatile composition. In this context, the study of the consumer-based sensory properties and volatile profile of smoked bacon will help to understand the relationship between volatile compounds generated during the smoking process and the sensory attributes. According to the panorama presented, the aim of this work was to study the sensory characteristics of bacon smoked with different Brazilian woods from reforestation using a consumer-based perspective and the volatile profile measured by gas chromatography. In addition, a statistical multi-block analysis was used to explore the associations between VCs and sensory attributes.

Section snippets

Samples

In the present work, seven treatments were studied: smoked bacon with reforestation wood from (1) Eucalyptus, (2) Acacia, and (3) Bamboo; two bacon samples smoked with commercial liquid smoke (4) LS1 (pH = 2.50–4.50, density = 0.90–1.15 g·mL−1, Acidity = 10.00–11.00%, Salmonella in 25 mL: absence, Sodium = 2.40 mg·g−1) and (5) LS2 ((pH = 2.20–2.20, density = 1.09–1.19 g·mL−1, Acidity = 9.50–11.00%, Salmonella in 25 mL = absence, Sodium = 1.50 mg·g−1); (6) one commercial sample (CS)

Results and discussion

The smoking process is crucial for the development of particular sensory characteristics of bacon (Saldaña, Castillo, et al., 2018), which can modify the consumer perception (Saldaña et al., 2019). These sensory characteristics are associated with the volatile compounds generated during curing and smoking. Thus, it becomes increasingly important to relate the sensory characterization performed by consumers with the VCs profile.

Conclusions

According to the SPME-GS/MS analysis, 39 VCs were identified in bacon samples, which were distributed in: phenols (13), aldehydes (7), ketones (5), furans (5), alcohols (4) and other components (5). The smoking process increased the number of VCs and consequently the number of sensory attributes perceived by consumers. Additionally, both VCs and sensory profile were dependent on the wood type used in the smoking process. The multi-block analysis showed that the “woodsy” and “pleasant”

Author contributions

ES and CCC conceived and designed the study. ES and JHB analyzed the data. LS, ES, CCC, MMS wrote the paper. LS, ES, JCS, LDS, MAA, JSSP and contributed to data collection. All the authors discussed and approved the paper.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, Brazil) for funding the project No. 2016/15012-2. Erick Saldaña received the support of the “Consejo Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Tecnológica - CONCYTEC” from Peru, in the framework of the CIENCIACTIVA programme, through the award of a PhD scholarship under contract agreement No. 104-2016-FONDECYT.

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