Characterization of salted egg yolk flavoring prepared by enzyme hydrolysis and microwave irradiation.

The salted egg yolk (SEY) is very popular in China for its pleasant flavor and texture. However, the long production cycle of traditional pickling and the waste of salted egg white had limited its industrialization. To solve these problems, a salted egg yolk flavoring was generated through enzymatic hydrolysis and microwave irradiation from fresh egg yolk in this study. The combination of enzymatic hydrolysis and microwave irradiation could force water and lipids in egg yolk to migrate out, and lead to lipid oxidation in high temperature. Lipid oxidation and Strecker degradation were defined as the major pathways of flavor generation. Among the generated volatile compounds, Hexanal, Heptanal, Benzaldehyde and 2-Pentyl-furan were supposed closely related to SEY flavor. This method could be used as an alternative method for the production of salted egg yolk. Furthermore, it could provide a foundation for further investigation of egg yolk containing flavor system.