Recently, researchers from Chinese Food Processing and Equipment Innovation Team from Institute of Food Sciences and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (IFST-CAAS) elucidate the potential lipid precursors and formation pathways for the warmed-over flavor (WOF) in precooked Chinese stewed beef with lipidomics and flavoromics techniques. The research findings were published in Food Chemistry with PhD student Liu Junmei as first author, and Prof. Chunhui Zhang and Dr. Ping Yang as the corresponding authors. This research was supported by the National Key R&D Program (2023YFD2100700) and the Shandong Province Science and Technology based Small and Medium sized Enterprises Innovation Capability Enhancement Project (2023TSGC0873).

Stewed beef is a traditional Chinese dish known for its rich taste, nutritional value, and easy preparation, making it a staple in China’s growing precooked dish market. However, a common issue with precooked meat dishes is the development of warmed-over flavor (WOF) during storage and reheating. WOF is described as having a fatty, metallic, wet cardboard or rancid aroma, which is easily perceived by consumers and negatively affects product quality. Previous studies from researchers’ team indicated that 11 aroma compoids, such as pentanal, hexanal, (E)-2-octenal, (E)-2-undecenal, 1-octen-3-ol, and (E,E)-2,4-decadienal, are potential markers of WOF in precooked stewed beef.

Using lipidomics and flavoromics, the researchers analyzed the lipid metabolic profiles in precooked Chinese stewed beef and the changes in WOF, characterizing the potential precursor lipids for WOF and clarifying the formation pathways of WOF. The results showed that phosphatidylethanolamines (ether-linked and vinyl-ether-linked, denoted as PE-O and PE-P), particularly PE (P-18:0_18:2), were likely key precursor lipids for the formation of WOF in precooked stewed beef. In addition, lysophosphatidylcholines (LPC) and phosphatidylcholines (PC), especially LPC (20:3) and PC (16:0_18:1), notably facilitated WOF development. Moreover, triglycerides (TG) were found to promote the formation and development of WOF. Under low-temperature conditions, lipid hydrolysis produces free fatty acids, which then undergo autoxidation to generate short-chain aldehydes, ketones, and alcohols. The accumulation of these odorants during lipid oxidation leads to the formation and development of WOF. Thus, hydrolysis is the driving force behind WOF formation under low-temperature conditions.

These findings provide a theoretical foundation insights into oriented-target flavor improvement, aimed at correcting off-flavors in precooked stewed beef to improve its sensory quality.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2025.143294