Not long ago, the Meat Science and Nutrition Engineering Innovation Team of the Institute of Agricultural Product Processing, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) has analyzed the mechanism by which flavouring substances of spice origin (eugenol, eucalyptol and anisaldehyde) regulate the action of myofibrillar proteins and aldehydes. The research results were published in Food Chemistry (JCR I, IF=8.8), the top journal in the food field. This study was supported by the Beijing Poultry Innovation Team (BAIC06-2023) and the Innovation Project of the Institute of Agricultural Products Processing, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS-ASTIP-2023-IFST) projects.

　　Aroma is one of the most important sensory attributes for evaluating the quality of meat products, which directly affects consumer acceptance and satisfaction of the products. Spice-derived flavouring substances (eugenol, eucalyptol, anisaldehyde), as key flavouring substances for roast chicken, can mask the raw fishy odour caused by proteins, lecithin, and other components of chicken meat and impart characteristic aromas such as clove and aniseed to processed meat products. However, the mechanism of flavouring and aroma enhancement during the brining process of traditional roast chicken in China is still unclear.

　　The researchers analyzed the mechanism of the spice-derived flavour substances (eugenol, eucalyptol, anisaldehyde) regulating the action of myofibrillar fibrillar proteins with aldehydes through multispectral and molecular dynamics simulations. The results showed that hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions were the main forces involved in the binding of spice-derived flavouring substances to myofibrillar fibrillar proteins. The flavouring substances of spice origin promoted the partial or complete unfolding of chicken myofibrillar proteins, resulting in the exposure of internal sulfhydryl groups and negatively charged amino acids to the protein surface, forming larger and rougher protein particles, and altering the original adsorption capacity of myofibrillar proteins for aldehydes. It was found that the presence of eugenol promoted the release of aldehydes; molecular dynamics simulations showed that eugenol may have a binding site with nonanal-competitive amino acid residues (PHE165) and induced a conformational change in myofibrillar fibrillar proteins, which disrupted van der Waals and electrostatic interactions in the myofibrillar fibrillar proteins-nonanal complexes, resulting in the decrease of the stability of the complexes and the release of nonanal.

　　The above results lay a theoretical foundation for the improvement and development of the spice seasoning and aroma enhancement mechanism in the brining process of traditional roasted chicken in China, and are of great significance for the research on the regulation of meat protein flavour.