Changes in flavor substances during the processing of boneless cold‐eating rabbit meat

Cold‐eating rabbit is a traditional Chinese delicacy made by the process of pickling and frying. To explore the relationship between the flavor of cold‐eating rabbit and the production process, this study investigated the changes of nucleotides, free amino acids, fatty acids, and volatile flavor substances in diced, marinated for 10 min, marinated for 20 min, fried for 5 min, re‐fried for 10 min, re‐fried for 15 min, re‐fried for 20 min, seasoned and fried, and in the finished product, and analyzed the changes of flavor substances in deboned rabbit at different processing stages. Results showed that the content of 5′‐inosine monophosphate (IMP) increased significantly (p < .05), indicating that the degradation pathway mainly involved IMP. In total, 17 free amino acids were detected, the contents of which increased significantly (p < .05). In addition, 27 medium‐ and long‐chain fatty acids were detected. The total concentration of free fatty acids decreased in the fresh rabbit meat‐marinated 20 min stage (p < .05), then increased in the fried 5 min–fried 20 min stage (p < .05), and finally decreased in the fried with spices–finished stage (p < .05). Seventy‐seven volatile flavor substances were detected, and the 15‐minute frying stage was key in producing the volatile flavor substances.