Analysis of GC/MS and Consumer Flavour Data

Summary

Beef volatile flavor compounds were collected and analyzed according to the HS-SPME method developed by Meat and Livestock Australia, The Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute of Northern Ireland, and Texas Tech University. Australian grass-fed beef steaks from 8 muscles and 3 aging treatments were cooked according to the MLA sensory methodologies using a Silex electric grill.
Prior to each sample steak cooking round a set of warm-up steaks were cooked to prepare the grill. During sample cook rounds 4 sample steaks were cooked each time in the middle positions along with 6 dummy steaks on the exterior. All steaks were set to thaw at approximately 4 °C overnight prior to cooking.
All collected volatile samples were analyzed by GC/MS within 24 hours of extraction. Identification of compounds was done by means of the mass spectral library and authentic standards. Instrumental variation was accounted for by observation of alkane standard abundances which were injected on days of analysis.
Semi-quantitative estimates of compound amounts was carried out by means of an external standard method yielding values as picograms extracted from the headspace.