Relationships between fatty acid composition, trained panel descriptors, and volatile aroma compounds of ground beef patties of brisket, flank and plate with 10, 20, and 30% total fat

An abstract of a study by Cabral et al determining the relationships, through principal component analysis (PCA), among fatty acid composition, trained panel descriptors, and volatile aroma compounds of ground beef patties produced from lean and fat trims of brisket, flank, and plate primals with 10, 20, or 30% total fat is presented. The PCA generated with flavor descriptors and fatty acids for 20 and 30% flank beef patties indicated clusters with the flavor descriptors medicinal, refrigerator stale, heated oil, and myristic and vaccenic acids, whereas 10, 20, and 30% brisket patties were clustered with sour, sour aromatics, green hay-like, bloody, metallic, and eicosapentanoic and docosahexaenoic acids. Patties from plate that contained 20% fat were associated with elaidic acid. A loading plot of PCA with aromatic volatiles and sensory attributes indicated that plate 10, 20, and 30% were located at the positive principal component (PC) 1 and PC2 axes and clustered with 2-octanone, dodecane, and cyclotrisfloxane whereas brisket 10, 20, and 30% aromatics were located at negative PC1 and positive PC2, clustered with 2-nonenal, green hay-like, metallic, fat and methane, and thiobis. Flank 10 and 30% were located at negative PC1 and PC2 and associated with medicinal, refrigerator stale, and 2-butanone. Upon loading plot with fatty acid and aromatic volatile compounds, brisket 10, 20, and 30% were located close to the negative portion of the PC1 axes and clustered with 2-nonenal, benzeneethanol, and docosahexaenoic, lignoceric, and pentadecanoic acids. Plate 20% and flank 20% were close to the positive side of PC1 and clustered with pentanal, nonenal, and elaidic, eicosenoic, and palmitic acids.