SUMMARY—The complex nature of poultry flavor prevents any single, complete characterization of its source. The contribution of the sulfur compounds to the flavor of the meat has received attention and recently the carbonyl‐related off‐flavor development in further processed products has become a problem. In order to determine the carbonyl compounds available in row poultry skin, the hexane soluble extract of ground skin was reacted with DNPhydrozine. The derivatives formed were fractionated by column and thin layer chromatography and quantified spectrophotometrically. Male and female chickens and turkeys were raised on standard diets to selected ages to study the influence of age, sex and group of birds on the level and composition of carbonyl compounds. The particular carbonyls investigated were the total carbonyls, the total monocarbonyl fraction and the specific aliphatic monocarbonyl classes. Data showed higher levels of total carbonyl and total monocarbonyl compounds in mole turkeys than in females until both were quite mature. Within the chicken samples, there was no appreciable difference due to either sex or age. The only methyl ketone found in any of the samples was acetone. The male turkeys had an increase in acetone concentration from 20 wk to a max at 24 wk, the same time at which lipid composition was the lowest. During the same time the female turkey maintained a relatively constant methyl ketone level. At 30 wk both sexes exhibited the lower concentration of acetone. Chicken skin data consistently displayed low acetone concentrations similar to that of the female tu
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