A gas chromatography-mass spectrometric (GC-MS) method was developed for the detection of volatile flavor compounds in dry-cured blunt snout bream. Analytical conditions such as extraction temperature, solid-phase microextraction (SPME) probe, headspace vial, chromatographic column, and extraction techniquewere optimized based on the peak area of identified compounds (hexanal, heptanal, octanal, nonanal, 1-penten-3-ol, 1-pentanol, hexanol and 1-octen-3-ol). The results showed that a total of 85 volatile compounds were detected in dry-cured fish. More volatile compounds were extracted at 90 ℃ than at 40 ℃, indicating that more volatile compounds were produced by thermal reaction. Divinylbenzene-carboxen polydimethylsiloxane (DVB/CAR/PDMS) fiber could better adsorb volatile compounds from dry cured fish. Twenty-mL short headspace vials provided better adsorption efficiency for volatile compounds, but the adsorption efficiency was lower than that of tall headspace vials. The volatile compounds in dry-salted fish were separated better on a polar column with good reproducibility. More aldehydes and alcohols were detected using a DB-WAX column, more acids and esters were detected using an HP-INNOWAX column, and more hydrocarbons were separated using a DB-1 column with weak polarity. The results of headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME), stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) or dynamic headspace extraction (DHS) combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) showed that DHS extracted the most volatile compounds, SBSE extracted the least volatile compounds, and SPME provided the most efficient and rapid extraction of volatile flavor compounds. SPME and DHS were more suitable for the extraction of volatile compounds from dry-cured fish.

This study addressed the effect of ultra-high pressure (UHP) versus irradiation sterilization on the shelf life and quality of largemouth bass. After being treated by UHP at 200 MPa or electron beam irradiation at 1.5 kGy, the fish were stored under vacuum at 4 ℃ and evaluated for total bacterial count (TBC), total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) content, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARs) value, color, pH, juice loss, hardness, texture properties and water distribution. The results showed that the increase of TBC, TVB-N content and TBARs value was significantly inhibited by UHP and irradiation treatments, and the irradiation treatment better delayed the spoilage of fish. The TBC in the blank and UHP groups exceeded the national standard limit after 9 d. Moreover, at this time point, the TVB-N content in the blank group also exceeded the national standard limit, while the UHP group did so after 12 d. The pH of all treatment groups showed a decreasing trend during the storage period. The UHP treatment increased the whiteness and loosened the structure of fish meat. Irradiation decreased the whiteness and the moisture content. The storage period of fish meat was significantly prolonged by both UHP and irradiation treatments, and the inhibitory effect of irradiation was better than that of UHP with less impact on fish meat quality.