High-pressure processing mitigates flavor loss in sauced duck legs during storage: Evidence from volatile profiling and myofibrillar protein-flavor compound interactions.

Maintaining flavor stability is a major quality concern for ready-to-eat meat products. This study evaluated the effects of high-pressure processing (HPP) at 400 MPa on the volatile profile of sauced duck legs during 14 days of 4 °C storage and explored the role of myofibrillar protein (MP)-flavor interactions. Results show that the volatiles of sauced duck legs were significantly affected by HPP and the total aldehyde concentration of HPP treated sample was lower on day 14. Anethole, linalool, and 1-octen-3-ol were selected as representative compounds. In an extracted-MP model, HPP reduced MP α-helix content and increased the apparent affinity coefficients and mass-normalized interaction capacities for all three compounds. Molecular docking and exploratory molecular dynamics simulations suggested HPP-dependent conformational changes and plausible protein-volatile contacts. These findings indicate that partial MP unfolding and enhanced apparent MP-flavor interactions may contribute to flavor retention after HPP.