Assessment the flavor of soybean meal hydrolyzed with Alcalase enzyme under different hydrolysis conditions by E-nose, E-tongue and HS-SPME-GC–MS

In the present study, E-nose, E-tongue, and headspace-solid phase microextraction gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS) technology combined with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were employed to evaluate the flavor characteristics of the volatile and the non-volatile substances generated during the enzymatic hydrolysis of the soybean meal by Alcalase. The results showed that the enzymatic hydrolysis effectively reduced the content of soybean odorous substance 1-octene-3-ol and led to better flavor. However, the excessive enzymatic hydrolysis resulted in the deterioration of the enzymatic hydrolysates flavor. In addition, both radar graph and PCA of E-tongue were able to provide the distribution of flavor substances during the enzymatic hydrolysis of the soybean meal. These results provided a theoretical basis for the improvement of the flavors of the soybean meal and its derived products.