Meat quality and flavor evaluation of Nanjing water boiled salted duck (NWSD) produced by different Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) ingredients.

Reports on meat quality and flavor evaluation of Nanjing water boiled salted duck (NWSD) produced by different Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) ingredients are limited. To select a suitable Muscovy duck ingredient for the NWSD processing, six kinds of NWSD products were produced using female (65, 70, and 75 days) and male (75, 80, and 85 days) Muscovy duck ingredients. The meat quality, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), smell and taste were investigated by using colorimeter, texture analyzer, headspace-gas chromatography-ion mobility spectroscopy (HS-GC-IMS), electronic nose (E-nose), electronic tongue (E-tongue), etc. Results exhibited that 32 iconic VOCs were obtained by using partial least squares discrimination analysis (PLS-DA), principal component analysis (PCA), and variable importance projection (VIP) methods. 80-day-old male Muscovy duck showed moderate moisture and protein content, good meat texture and bright color, diverse iconic VOCs and clear differentiation, making it the preferred ingredient for NWSD processing.