Effect of aging on volatile compounds in cooked beef

• Volatiles from beef cooked at 180 °C were identified using SPME–GCMS.
• The quantity of some heterocyclic compounds increased owing to aging.
• Pyrazines were the most notable compounds in the heterocyclic compounds that increased during storage.

Volatiles in the headspace of beef cooked at 180 °C were analyzed using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), and the effects of aging were evaluated. Seventy volatile substances including non-aromatic, homocyclic, and heterocyclic compounds were identified. A significant positive regression model for storage could be adopted for toluene, benzeneacetaldehyde, 2-formylfuran, pyrazine, 2,6-dimethylpyrazine, 2,3-dimethylpyrazine, 2-acetylthiazole, and 2-formyl-3-methylthiophene. Increases in the quantity of these compounds, with the exception of toluene, suggest the importance of the Strecker and Maillard reactions in cooked meat previously aged under vacuum conditions. As such, the aging process may lead to an increase not only in the amount of compounds related to the taste of meat, but also in the quantity of odor-active compounds. The increased quantity of toluene during storage seemed to be influenced by lipid oxidation.