Effect of chilled and freezing pre-treatments prior to pulsed electric field processing on volatile profile and sensory attributes of cooked lamb meats

- PEF affects volatile profile and sensory properties of cooked lamb meat
- PEF results in significant changes of volatile compounds in different lamb meat cuts
- PEF treated samples were associated with meaty, browned, juicy, and livery flavour attributes
- PEF treatment significantly enhanced the temporal meaty and oxidized flavour attributes in rib and shoulder cuts

This research aimed to gain better understanding on the effects of chilling and freezing prior to pulsed electric field processing (PEF) on volatile profile and sensory attributes of different cooked lamb muscles (i.e. shoulder, rib and loin). Lamb samples were treated at electric field strength of 1-1.4 kV·cm− 1, specific energy of 88-109 kJ·kg− 1, frequency of 90 Hz, pulse width of 20 μs and pulse number of 964. The results showed that prolonged storage time and frozen-thawed pretreatment led to significant increases in volatile compounds due to lipid and protein oxidation. PEF also resulted in significant changes of volatile compounds in different meat cuts. Temporal dominance of sensations (TDS) showed that both storage and PEF treatment affected the temporal flavor of meaty and oxidized flavor attributes. Particularly, longer storage period was associated with oxidized flavor, while PEF treated samples were associated with browned, juicy, livery, and meaty flavor attributes.