Detection of volatile organic compounds as markers of chicken breast spoilage using HS-SPME-GC/MS-FASST

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of naturally aerobically spoiled chicken breast at ambient temperature were analyzed to identify volatiles that can be used as spoilage markers. The headspace solid-phase micro-extraction (HS-SPME) technique coupled with gas GC/MS running in Fast Automated Scan/SIM Type (FASST) mode was applied using 4 SPME fibers of different polarity. All of fibers were able to detect the sulfides methanethiol (MeSH), dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), and dimethyl trisulfide (DMTS), the alcohols ethanol (EtOH), 1- and 2-butanol, and 1-butanol isomers, and free fatty acids (FFAs) in the range of C2 to C5. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that spoilage in chicken meat is 2-step process. Initially, an increase in amounts of alcohols and FFAs was observed (primary spoilage), followed by an increase in the sulfide content (secondary spoilage). The most promising volatile spoilage markers for chicken breast were EtOH and 3-methyl-1-butanol, followed by acetic acid (C2) and sulfides.