Abstract
Volatiles evolved from porcine small intestine during storage were analyzed and some of them were identified. Porcine small intestine produced a specific offensive odor after storage for 1-2 days at 20°C. Volatiles in the head space were trapped by a Tenax-GC column and analyzed by GC-MS and GC; in qualitative experiments, regenerated volatiles were analyzed after reaction with HgCl2. The volatiles identified included alcohols, carbonyl compounds, amines, and sulfur compounds. Of these groups of compounds, methylmercaptan, ethanol, 1-propanol, 3-methylbutanol and 3-methylbutanal were identified as the 5 major components. The amounts of these components increased markedly after storage for 0.5-1 day. The time courses of their increases were associated with the increase in odor intensity, as evaluated by sensory tests, and with the increase of total bacterial counts. These results suggest that the development of offensive odor from pig small intestine is due largely if not completely to the increase of microorganisms and the ensuing putrefaction and fermentation. Storage of small intestine at a lower temperature prevented the development of the offensive odor; the period during which the characteristic odor was hardly detectable organoleptically was prolonged to 4 days and one month (minimum) by storage at 4°C and -20°C, respectively.
