SAFE-GC-MS Tracks Grilled Lamb Aroma Formation

Scientists wanted to understand how the flavor of charcoal-grilled lamb skewers changes and develops during cooking. To find out, they combined three techniques: solvent-assisted flavor evaporation coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SAFE-GC-MS), untargeted metabolomics, and lipidomics. A paper based on their work was published in the journal Food Research International.¹

How Does the Grilling Process Chemically Produce the Characteristic Flavor and Aroma of Grilled Lamb?

Grilled lamb skewers are a classic Chinese street food, and they're a great example for studying how cooking creates distinctive flavors. The process is simple: lamb is cut into even chunks and grilled over high heat, usually charcoal. As the fuel burns, smoke settles onto the meat, giving it that signature smoky flavor and golden-brown color.²On a chemical level, the heat sets off a bunch of reactions inside the meat. Fats break down, proteins degrade, and sugars react with amino acids in what is referred to as the Maillard reaction (the same browning reaction responsible for a seared steak's crust or toasted bread). Together, these reactions produce a mix of compounds, aldehydes, ketones, alcohols, and ring-shaped molecules like pyrazines and furans, that combine to create the signature smell of grilled lamb skewers.³ “Therefore,” write the authors of the paper,¹ “exploring the aroma formation process in lamb skewers is a core scientific question for understanding the flavor essence of traditional Chinese meat products. It also represents a significant research direction in the broader field of food flavor science.”

What Causes the Characteristic Flavor of Charcoal-Grilled Lamb Skewers to Develop During Cooking, and Which Molecules and Reactions Are Responsible?

The team tracked how flavor-related compounds changed over the full 12 minutes of grilling. Around the 8-minute mark, they saw a sharp rise in markers of fat and protein breakdown, showing that the middle-to-late stage of grilling is when the most intense flavor-building reactions happen.¹

Using their aroma-detection method, they found 118 different compounds that contribute to smell. Not all of them matter equally, however; after narrowing things down, they pinpointed eight compounds that really drive the signature grilled lamb aroma, things like nutty, roasted, and slightly fatty notes coming from compounds such as pyrazines and aldehydes.¹

Looking at the broader chemistry, most of the flavor-related molecules turned out to be fats and organic acids. Digging deeper, they found that fat breakdown, particularly involving cell-membrane fats and linoleic acid, along with certain amino acid pathways, are central to how the flavor builds up.¹

The lipid analysis was even more detailed, identifying over 1600 different fat molecules, with membrane fats making up the biggest share of what likely fuels the flavor. As the meat grilled, these fats broke down mainly due to heat-driven chemical reactions rather than biological ones, and membrane fats played a starring role.¹

Finally, using an AI-based method to combine all this data, the researchers picked out the 150 molecules most responsive to grilling and linked them statistically to the eight key aroma compounds.¹

Put simply, the study shows that grilled lamb's signature flavor comes from three main chemical events during cooking: breakdown of membrane fats, selective oxidation of unsaturated fats, and a reaction between amino acids and small reactive carbon compounds (known as Strecker degradation), all working together to create that delicious grilled taste.¹

“The sequential synergy between lipid oxidation and the Maillard reaction,” write the authors of the paper,¹ “appears to be a core driving force of flavor quality development.”

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References

1. Shen, C.; Jiang, X.; Sun, J. et al. Synergistic Effects of Lipid Degradation and the Maillard Reaction: Decoding the Flavor Formation of Charcoal-Grilled Lamb Skewers Based on Flavoromics, Sensomics, Metabolomics, and Lipidomics. Food Res Int. 2026, 242 (Pt 4), 120108. DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2026.120108
2. Liu, H.; Hui, T.; Fang, F. et al. The Formation of Key Aroma Compounds in Roasted Mutton During the Traditional Charcoal Process. Meat Sci.2022, 184, 108689. DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2021.108689
3. C. Shen, C.; Y. Cai, Y.; X. Wu, X. et al. Characterization of Selected Commercially Available Grilled Lamb Shashliks Based on Flavor Profiles Using GC-MS, GC × GC-TOF-MS, GC-IMS, E-nose and E-tongue Combined with Chemometrics. Food Chem. 2023, 423, 136257. DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.136257