Aroma Profile Characterization of Mahi-Mahi and Tuna for Determining Spoilage Using Purge and Trap Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

Alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, amines, and sulfur compounds are essential aroma compounds related to fish flavor and spoilage. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is an instrument that is widely used to identify and quantify volatile and semi-volatile compounds in fish products. In this research, a simple and accurate GC-MS method was developed to determine the aroma profile of mahi-mahi and tuna for chemical indicators of spoilage. In the developed GC-MS method, trichloroacetic acid (TCA) solution was used to extract analytes from homogenized fish samples. The purge and trap system was used for sample introduction, and the GC-MS with an RTX-Volatile Amine column was able to separate compounds without a derivatization procedure. The created purge and trap gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (PT-GC-MS) method could identify and quantify twenty aroma compounds in mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus) and 16 volatile compounds in yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) associated with fish spoilage. The amines (dimethylamine, trimethylamine, isobutylamine, 3-methylbutylamine, and 2-methylbutanamine), alcohols (2-ethylhexanol, 1-penten-3-ol and isoamyl alcohol, ethanol), aldehydes (2-methylbutanal, 3-methylbutanal, benzaldehyde), ketones (acetone, 2,3-butanedione, 2-butanone, acetoin), and dimethyl disulfide strongly statistically correlated with poorer quality tuna and mahi-mahi and were considered as the key spoilage indicators. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: A simplified and rapid purge and trap gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (PT-GC-MS) method developed in this research was able to identify and quantify important spoilage compounds in mahi-mahi and yellowfin tuna. This method is an efficient analytical method for determining volatile profiles of fish samples for industry analytical labs or the government. The identified analytical quality markers can be used to monitor the spoilage level of tuna and mahi-mahi.

Keywords: GC-MS; amine column; aquatic product; spoilage indicator; volatile amines.