A combination of quantitative marinating and Maillard reaction to enhance volatile flavor in Chinese marinated chicken

BACKGROUND A combination of quantitative marinating and Maillard reaction was investigated by adding d‐xylose, l‐cysteine and thiamine to the marinated brine of quantitative marinating, which was expected to enhance the volatile flavor of Chinese marinated chicken. Response surface methodology was used to optimize parameters, in which response was sensory evaluation scores of marinated chicken. A Box–Behnken center design was applied to the optimized added contents. The optimized contents were d‐xylose (1–5‰), l‐cysteine (1–5‰) and thiamine (1–3‰). RESULTS Analysis of variance indicated that a second‐order polynomial equation could predict the experimental data well (R2 = 0.94), and sensory evaluation scores were significantly affected by the added amount of d‐xylose, l‐cysteine and thiamine. The optimal conditions that maximized the sensory evaluation score of Chinese marinated chicken were found to be 4.96‰ d‐xylose, 2.28‰ l‐cysteine and 2.66‰ thiamine (w/w). Given these optimal conditions, a number of meat‐like flavor compounds such as 2‐pentyl‐furan, benzothiazole and 4‐methyl‐5‐thiazoleethanol were identified by gas chromatographic–mass spectrometric analysis. CONCLUSION Our results suggested that a combination of quantitative marinating and Maillard reaction might be a promising method to enhance the volatile flavor, especially meat‐like flavor, of Chinese marinated chicken. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry