Quality and Flavor Analysis of Six Commercially Available Stewed Pork Balls

In order to clarify the quality differences of existing commercially available stewed pork ball products, this study comprehensively analyzed the quality traits of commercially available stewed pork ball of six different brands (A1-Mouth Edge, A2-Wutting Bridge, A3-Kijin, A4-Lao Yangcheng, A5-Sanzhenzhai, and A6-Huangjue) on the physicochemical indices of organoleptic, colour and lustre, textural characteristics, water loss rate and fat oxidation, combined with the free fatty acids and volatile flavour compounds to characterize. The results showed that the sensory score of the A1 stewed pork ball was as high as 34 points, and the redness value of A4 was as high as 3.46±0.08 among the six types of commercially available stewed pork balls, while the fat oxidation value of A1 was the lowest at 0.44 mg MDA/kg, and the masticatory of A5 and A6 was lower at 0.21±0.02 and 0.32±0.11 mJ, respectively. The free fatty acids composition of the six commercially available stewed pork balls, which were mainly composed of oleic acid and secondly composed of saturated fatty acids such as palmitic acid and stearic acid. The polyunsaturated fatty acids in stewed pork balls were decomposed into aldehydes and other substances by a large number of oxidation reactions, while the content of saturated fatty acids was significantly increased. γ-Pinene, hexanal, linalool, nonanal, etc. were the common volatile flavor substances, in addition, the main key volatile flavor substances of A1 were 2-pentyl furan, the main volatile flavor compounds of A2 were Valencia orange alkene, methyl heptane, isovaleraldehyde, while A4 was ethyl caprylate, A5 was 4-terpineol, undecyl alcohol, methyl mercaptan, furfuryl alcohol, furfural, methyl stearate, anethole, and A6 was undecyl alcohol, phenylpropanoid. Thus, hydrocarbons and aldehydes, along with alcohols and ketones, might be the major factors affecting the flavor quality of various commercially available stewed pork ball products. The results of this study may provide a theoretical reference for the construction of the product quality evaluation system for commercially available stewed pork ball products, as well as flavor unification and product development and production.