Analysis of volatile compounds in Chinese dry-cured hams by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry

A microwave assisted extraction method coupled with solvent assisted flavor evaporation (MAE-SAFE) was used to extract the volatiles from three-selected Chinese dry-cured hams (Jinhua ham, Xuanwei ham and Rugao ham). Extracts were analyzed by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC/HR-TOFMS), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), respectively. A total 165 volatile compounds were identified by GC × GC/HR-TOFMS while only 50 compounds were identified by GC-MS. Principal component analysis showed that the specific dominant volatile compounds were [S-(R*,R*)]-2,3-butanediol (26.39%) and 3-methyl-butanoic acid (7.53%) for Jinhua ham, were [R-(R*,R*)]-2,3-butanediol (16.85%) and acetic acid (8.25%) for Rugao ham and were dihydro-4-hydroxy-2(3H)-furanone (11.67%) and hexanoic acid (8.24%) for Xuanwei ham. The results not only provided a fast and mild extraction method to analyze the volatiles in non-volatile food matrices, but also represented the detailed information of volatile profiles of Chinese dry-cured hams.