Effects of different thermal processing methods on amino acid, fatty acid, and volatile flavor substance contents of Aohan millet (Golden seedling millet)

Abstract

Aohan millet has been cultivated for 8000 years and has rich nutritional value, such as high-quality fatty acids and amino acids. Thermal processing is a conventional approach to food preparation. However, the effect of thermal processing on the formation of flavor substances in millet has not been clarified. Therefore, in this study, the effects of three different thermal processing techniques, namely, steaming, stir-frying, and puffing, on the amino acids, fatty acids, and volatile flavor substances of Aohan millet were investigated using high-speed automatic amino acid analyzer, headspace solid-phase microextraction method, combined with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC–MS) and gas chromatography (GC) with Aohan millet from Inner Mongolia as the raw material. All three thermal processing methods notably reduced the levels of protein, starch, polyphenols, and flavonoids in Aohan millet when compared to the raw millet (p