Volatile Organic Compounds, Oxidative and Sensory Patterns of Vacuum Aged Foal Meat

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Aging is the way that leads the transformation of muscle in meat, usually improving sensorial and textural properties. Aging in horse meat was recently investigated, although it needs to be deepened for a better application of this kind of technique. Vacuum aging is a spread aging technique, mainly because it represents a cheaper method, as it does not need aging rooms, presents less weight loss than dry aging, and it is safer because primal cuts are protected by air contaminations. The present paper characterizes volatile compounds, oxidative status, and the sensory profile of foal meat during vacuum aging for 14 days. Vacuum aging seems to delay lipid oxidation, reducing oxidative products and volatile compound production derived from lipid oxidation. ABSTRACT: The study aimed to evaluate the effect of 14-day vacuum aging on the volatile compounds (VOC) profile, oxidative profile, antioxidant enzymes activity, and sensory evaluation in the Longissimusthoracis muscle of foal meat under vacuum aging. Longissimusthoracis (LT) was sampled in 20 mm thick slices, vacuum packed, and stored at 4 °C. Samples were randomly assigned to different aging times (1, 6, 9, 14 days after slaughtering). VOCs, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARs), hydroperoxides, carbonyl proteins, superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase were analyzed, and a sensory test was performed. A nested one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed for aging time as an independent variable. Significance was set at p < 0.05. The main VOCs originating from cooked steaks were aldehydes, (from 47.18% to 58.81% of the total volatile compounds), followed by hydrocarbons (from 9.32% and 31.99%). TBARs and hydroperoxides did not show variations due to aging (p > 0.05), instead, protein carbonyls showed higher values at the 14th day (p < 0.01). Catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase showed increasing values during aging time (p < 0.01). Vacuum aging slowed down lipid oxidation, and protein oxidation was shown to be present. However, the best vacuum aging duration is in the range of 6–9 days from slaughtering, with an improvement of sensory evaluation.