Abstract:This study systematically compared the effects of glutinous rice flour，corn starch and soluble starch used as carbon sources on the quality of fermented and air-dried hairtail （Trichiurus lepturus）. Headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry （HS-SPME-GC-MS）was applied to characterize the dynamic variations of volatile flavor compounds in hairtail fermented with soluble starch. The results revealed that the soluble starch group presented the lowest pH value and total volatile basic nitrogen （TVB-N） content as well as the highest total acid content，when compared with the glutinous rice flour group and corn starch group. At the late fermentation stage，the soluble starch group maintained relatively high values in hardness，chewiness and shear force. Its lightness （L*） and redness （a*） were also higher，which demonstrated that soluble starch effectively preserved the texture and color of the product. HS-SPME-GC-MS analysis indicated that the contents of various volatile flavor compounds changed during fermentation，including acids （octanoic acid），esters （ethyl 15-methylheptadecanoate，ethyl hexanoate，ethyl stearate，ethyl octanoate），phenols （4-vinyl-2-methoxyphenol），hydrocarbons （3-methylpentane） and heterocyclic compounds. These variations were closely related to microbial metabolism and jointly formed the typical flavor characteristics of fermented and air-dried hairtail in the late fermentation stage.