Abstract
The increased interest in greener sources of antioxidants has spurred the research on natural alternatives to enhance poultry production. This study aimed to investigate the effects of natural antioxidant extracts’ (hop β-acids extract) diet supplementation at different concentrations (0, 30, 60, and 120 mg kg−1) on the volatile compound profile of roasted chicken meat. A method based on headspace solid-phase micro-extraction coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS) was optimized by response surface design to extract the volatile compounds. The optimum extraction conditions were 80 °C and 45 min. A total of 95 volatile compounds were identified in roasted chicken meat, especially aldehydes, alkanes, alcohols, esters, and pyrazines. Principal component analysis (PCA) separated the samples as a function of β-acid supplementation, indicating that increased levels of supplementation lead to distinct volatile profiles in roasted chicken meat. Aldehydes such as octanal and hexanal (8.94% and 17.63%, respectively, for 30 mg kg−1 treatment) played an important role in distinguishing the samples. Those compounds are the main oxidation products of unsaturated fatty acids, which are possibly protected by the antioxidant properties of hop β-acid extracts. Some other compounds with odoriferous importance detected for this level of supplementation were: 2,6-dimethyl pyrazine (5.12%), 2-pentylfuran (2.94%), and 1-octen-3-ol (1.88%). This study significantly contributes to the elucidation of the impact of hops β-acids supplementation in the chicken meat aroma profile, opening new venues for its potential application.