## 2 Results
### Effect of Low-Sodium Salts on the Aroma of Dry-Cured Meat
#### 2.2.1 Volatile Compound Profile
Among them, the OAVs of Methyl butyrate, Methyl 2-methylbutyrate, Methyl Isovalerate, Methyl pentanoate, Methyl carbonate, Ethyl caproate, \(\gamma\)-Caprolactone and \(\gamma\)-octa lactone were higher than 1, and there was no significant difference between the groups in the contents of Methyl Isovalerate, \(\gamma\)-Caprolactone, and \(\gamma\)-octa lactone. The most abundant ester in each group was methyl hexanoate, which has a pleasant smell and comes from the esterification reaction of ethanol and acid. The order of methyl hexanoate content in each group was SM \(>\) SPMA \(>\) S \(>\) SPM \(>\) SP, among which SM was significantly higher. Methyl butyrate has an apple aroma, and the content order of each group was SM \(>\) SPMA \(>\) SPM \(>\) S \(>\) SP. Methyl 2-methylbutyrate ester has a pungent, ethereal fruity smell, and the content order of each group was SM \(>\) S \(>\) SPM \(>\) SPMA \(>\) SP. Ethyl caproate has a fruity aroma like pineapple, and the content order of each group was as follows: SM \(>\) SPM \(>\) SPMA \(>\) S. The levels of Methyl butyrate, Methyl 2-methylbutyrate, and Ethyl caproate in SM were significantly higher than in the other groups. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline
**Volatile Compounds** & **Threshold (ug/kg)** & **S** & **SPMA** & **SPM** & **SP** & **SM** \\ \hline
3-Methylbutanal & 1.2 & 6.04 & 4.83 & 9.42 & 8.28 & 15.23 \\
2-Methylbutyral & 0.1 & 67.80 & 52.90 & 98.70 & 113.70 & 180.30 \\ Pentanal & 0.85 & 7.41 & 190.25 & 12.04 & 14.11 & 21.89 \\ Hexanal & 5 & 29.54 & 32.34 & 37.76 & 54.43 & 42.70 \\ Heptaldehyde & 0.26 & 87.15 & 95.81 & 104.73 & 238.46 & 146.08 \\ Octyl aldehyde & 0.7 & 36.04 & 37.81 & 46.51 & 123.30 & 56.86 \\
1-Nonanal & 1 & 48.00 & 56.39 & 73.83 & 120.54 & 75.31 \\ (\(E\))-2-Heptanal & 2.4 & ND & 2.85 & 3.51 & ND & ND \\ (\(E\))-2-Octenal & 0.25 & 18.56 & 17.08 & 37.72 & 29.36 & 24.60 \\ Decyl aldehyde & 0.4 & 14.43 & 14.90 & 29.88 & 46.40 & 24.88 \\ (E)-2-Nonanal & 0.05 & 39.80 & 46.80 & 102.80 & 135.20 & 45.60 \\
3-Methyl-1-butanol & 1.7 & ND & ND & 1.89 & ND & ND \\
1-Pentanol & 0.36 & 168.44 & 128.56 & 60.89 & 72.11 & 68.33 \\
1-Hexanol & 10 & 4.43 & 3.77 & 4.58 & 5.01 & 4.82 \\
1-Octen-3-ol & 1 & ND & ND & 39.14 & 38.77 & 54.76 \\
1-Heptanol & 4.8 & 1.80 & 1.76 & 2.31 & 3.08 & 6.16 \\
1-Octanol & 2.7 & ND & 3.83 & 5.30 & 7.08 & 5.52 \\ Methyl butyrate & 15.1 & 0.20 & 0.42 & 0.35 & 0.13 & 1.36 \\ Methyl 2-methylbutyrate & 0.00025 & 36,480.00 & 22,720.00 & 26,520.00 & 13,400.00 & 72,280.00 \\ Methyl Isovalerate & 2.2 & 5.85 & 3.22 & 3.49 & ND & 9.55 \\ Methyl pentanoate & 2.2 & 7.72 & 9.48 & 6.26 & 1.35 & 0.00 \\ Methyl caproate & 10 & 8.07 & 12.61 & 7.15 & 1.52 & 14.98 \\ Ethyl caproate & 1 & 2.06 & 3.35 & 4.68 & ND & 11.69 \\ \(\gamma\)-Caprolactone & 0.26 & 38.58 & 27.85 & 0.00 & 55.65 & 53.73 \\ \(\gamma\)-octa lactone & 0.0222 & 0.00 & 0.00 & 592.34 & ND & ND \\
2-Heptanone & 0.9 & 8.34 & 10.10 & 8.34 & 13.99 & 18.08 \\
6-Methyl-5-hepten-2-one & 0.068 & 24.12 & 34.41 & 43.53 & ND & 59.85 \\
2,3,5-Trimethylpyrazine & 0.19 & 52.26 & ND & 27.00 & 91.74 & 44.32 \\ Tetramethylpyrazine & 0.69 & 17.84 & ND & 11.57 & 27.93 & ND \\ Toluene & 0.527 & 92.45 & ND & 9.92 & 10.53 & 21.76 \\ Ethylbenzene & 1.2 & 1.61 & ND & ND & 1.94 & 2.43 \\ Dipentene & 0.21 & ND & ND & ND & 19.38 & 48.52 \\
2-PentyI furan & 0.27 & 51.74 & 62.37 & 46.15 & 81.15 & 106.81 \\ \hline \end{tabular}  
* S: 100% NaCl; SPMA: 59.375% NaCl+28% KCl+12% MgCl\({}_{2}\)+0.625% L-arginine (Arg); SPM: 60% NaCl+28% KCl+12% MgCl\({}_{2}\); SP: 72% NaCl+28% KCl; SM: 88% NaCl+12% MgCl\({}_{2}\)  
\end{table} 
Table 2: Volatile compounds with OAV \(>\) 1 in dry-cured meat with different low-sodium salts. Ketone compounds are produced when alkony groups are oxidized by alkyl radicals during lipid oxidation to generate ketone compounds and hydrocarbons.