Effects of Different Cooking Methods on the Physicochemical Properties and Flavor of Crawfish (Procambarus clarkia)

The flavor differences of crawfish meat cooked by three different methods, namely, deep frying (90, 120, 150, and 180 s), air frying (5, 10, 15 and 20 min) and boiling (150 s) were analyzed by electronic nose, electronic tongue and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The quality changes of cooked crawfish meat were evaluated in terms of physicochemical indicators such as basic chemical composition, texture, color, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARs) value. The results showed that the electronic nose and electronic tongue could well distinguish crawfish meat cooked by different methods, and principal component analysis (PCA) showed a clearer discrimination crawfish meat with increased cooking time. Eight and 16 flavor substances were detected in fresh and boiled crawfish meat, respectively; 18, 18, 16, and 19 in deep fried crawfish meat, respectively; and 19, 20, 20, and 16 in air fried crawfish meat, respectively. Pyrazines were significantly more abundant in air fried crawfish meat than in crawfish meat cooked by the other two methods. With cooking time, the moisture content in crawfish meat gradually decreased, the fat content and hardness in deep-fried and air-fried crawfish meat gradually increased, and the springiness increased first and then decreased. The quality of cooked crawfish meat varied among different cooking methods, and the sensory evaluation results showed that the quality of crawfish meat air fried for 15 min was best.