Development of a Flavor Fingerprint by GC-MS with Chemometric Method for Volatile Compounds of Yak and Yellow Cattle Bone Soup

Volatile compounds from bone soup of yak (YBS) and yellow cattle (CBS) were investigated by combining gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS) fingerprinting with principal component analysis (PCA). A total of 40 and 43 compounds were identified by GC-MS of YBS and CBS, respectively. Nonanal was used as the “reference peak” to calculate the relative retention time and relative peak area of the other compounds in the chromatogram. A total of 16 and 35 common peaks were determined as the characteristic substances of YBS and CBS, respectively. Subsequently, eight and seven unique compounds were selected to evaluate the fingerprints of YBS and CBS, respectively, based on PCA. Our findings confirmed the 8 and 7 substances among the 16 and 35 substances, respectively, as described above. Therefore, the established fingerprinting of volatile compounds for bone soup by combining GC-MS with PCA was a simple and reliable method. This method could provide references for category identification.