• Cavitation-driven effects are the key mechanism of ultrasound-mediated flavor modulation. • Ultrasound enhances desirable flavors through enzyme activity, protein and lipid pathways, and Maillard reactions. • It suppresses off-flavor formation by reducing oxidation, freeze-thaw damage, and microbial growth. • Ultrasound is a green, sustainable, non-thermal tool for modulating characteristic flavors in meat products. The distinctive flavor profile of meat products is essential for defining their overall acceptability, influencing consumer choices, and strengthening market competitiveness. Conventional flavor regulation methods mainly rely on thermal processing and chemical additives, which are constrained by drawbacks such as excessive oxidation and limited ability to simultaneously enhance desirable flavor while suppressing off-flavor. As an emerging green non-thermal technology, ultrasound exhibits significant potential to address these challenges through its cavitation, mechanical, and thermal effects. This article offers a detailed mechanism analysis of ultrasound that not only promotes flavor formation pathways but also mitigates the development of off-flavor in meat products. Ultrasound can modulate enzyme activity, accelerate protein degradation and promote structural modification, and promote lipid oxidation and Maillard reactions, thereby facilitating the generation of characteristic flavor compounds. Meanwhile, it effectively reduces off-flavor by mitigating freeze-thaw damage, lowering lipoxygenase activity, and inhibiting spoilage microorganisms and spores. Moreover, this review also summarizes the challenges of ultrasonic technology in industrial applications and outlooks its potential development directions. In summary, ultrasound represents a precise and efficient strategy for flavor modulation, delivering valuable insights and theoretical support for advancing meat processing technologies.
Xi et al. (Thu,) studied this question.