Roles of sunlight exposure on chemosensory characteristic of broad bean paste by untargeted profiling of volatile flavors and multivariate statistical analysis

This study aimed to elaborate the role of sunlight on chemosensory characteristics of broad bean paste (BBP). Two groups of BBP fermentation with sunlight treated (ST) or darkness treated (DT) were prepared and the volatile compounds were revealed and compared via GC–MS and GC–IMS and multivariate statistical analysis. A total of 125 compounds were identified and 24 markers with potential contribution to the BBP flavor characteristics were screened. Sunlight exposure was proposed to favor the accumulation of volatile compounds providing fruity, floral, buttery and roasted aroma during fermentation while volatile flavor compounds with unfavorable aroma were enriched in the darkness-treated group. Through KEGG-enrichment analysis, phenylalanine metabolism was found to play critical roles in regulating volatile flavor compound formation and the predicted synthesis network for 24 marker volatile flavor compounds was constructed. This study may unravel the scientific meaning of the role of sunlight on BBP chemosensory quality.