Non-volatile and volatile compound analyses revealed the effect of oregano essential oil on the flavor characteristics of beef.

Growing consumer demand for high-quality beef products has promoted extensive research on natural plant additives to improve meat flavor and quality. Oregano essential oil (OEO), rich in bioactive components such as carvacrol and thymol, has been widely concerned due to its excellent antimicrobial and antioxidant activities, but systematic studies on its regulatory effect on beef flavor characteristics (especially volatile and non-volatile flavor compounds) remain insufficient. This study aimed to explore the effect of dietary OEO supplementation on beef flavor characteristics by comprehensively analyzing non-volatile flavor substances (nutritional composition, amino acid profiles, flavor-related nucleotides) and volatile compound profiles. A total of 27 Pingliang red cattle were randomly divided to three groups: the control group (CON, fed a basal diet), the low OEO supplementation group (LOE, basal diet supplemented with 130 mg/d OEO), and the high OEO supplementation group (HOE, basal diet supplemented with 260 mg/d OEO). Electronic nose and gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS) were used for volatile compound analysis in beef. The results showed that dietary supplementation with HOE significantly increased the content of umami and sweet amino acids, as well as flavor-related nucleotides in beef (P < 0.05). A total of 36 volatile compounds were identified by GC-IMS, among which the total contents of aldehydes, alcohols, and ketones were significantly increased in the HOE group. Further analysis confirmed that six volatile compounds, including octanal, pentanal, 3-methylbutanal, 2-butanone, 2-pentanone, and 2-pentyl furan, were the key characteristic flavor contributors. In conclusion, dietary OEO supplementation can positively regulate the flavor profile of beef by enriching non-volatile and volatile flavor compounds, which provides a theoretical basis and practical support for OEO as a natural plant additive to improve beef flavor quality.