The difference analysis of physicochemical indexes and volatile flavor compounds of chili oil prepared from different varieties of chili pepper

Because of its peculiar flavor, chili oil is widely used in all kinds of food and is welcomed by people. Chili pepper is an important raw material affecting its quality, and commercial chili oil needs to meet various production needs, so it needs to be made with different chili peppers. However, the current compounding method mainly relies on the experience of professionals and lacks the basis of objective numerical analysis. In this study, the chroma and capsaicinoids of different chili oils were analyzed, and then the volatile components were determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and gas chromatography-ion migration spectrometer (GC-IMS) and electronic nose (E-nose). The results showed that Zidantou chili oil had the highest L*, b*, and color intensity (ΔE) (52.76 ± 0.52, 88.72 ± 0.89, and 118.84 ± 1.14), but the color was tended to be greenyellow. Xinyidai chili oil had the highest a* (65.04 ± 0.2). But its b* and L* were relatively low (76.17 ± 0.29 and 45.41 ± 0.16), and the oil was dark red. For capsaicinoids, Xiaomila chili oil had the highest content of capsaicinoids was 2.68 ± 0.07 g/kg, Tianjiao chili oil had the lowest content of capsaicinoids was 0.0044 ± 0.0044 g/kg. Besides, 96 and 54 volatile flavor substances were identified by GC–MS and GC-IMS respectively. And the main volatile flavor substances of chili oil were aldehydes, alcohols, ketones, and esters. A total of 11 key flavor compounds were screened by the relative odor activity value (ROAV). Moguijiao chili oil and Zidantou chili oil had a prominent grass aroma because of hexanal, while Shizhuhong chili oil, Denglongjiao chili oil, Erjingtiao chili oil, and Zhoujiao chili oil had a prominent floral aroma because of 2, 3-butanediol. Chili oils could be well divided into 3 groups by the partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). According to the above results, the 10 kinds of chili oil had their own characteristics in color, capsaicinoids and flavor. Based on quantitative physicochemical indicators and flavor substances, the theoretical basis for the compounding of chili oil could be provided to meet the production demand more scientifically and accurately. © 2024 Elsevier Ltd