Abstract

To identify the unique flavor compounds in jujube brandy and changes in flavor compounds in the process of aging, Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and GC-Olfactometry (GC-O) combined with solid-phase micro-extraction were used for the analysis of the volatile flavor compounds of fresh and aged jujube brandy. The equilibrium of the flavor compounds required divinylbenzene/carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane fiber for 40 min at 40°C. A total of 72 compounds were positively or tentatively identified by GC-MS, including 34 esters, 12 alcohols, 2 acids, 7 hydrocarbons, 3 aldehydes, 3 ketones and 8 terpenes in jujube brandy. Among them, ethyl laurate, ethyl caproate, ethylbenzoate and ethyl hexanoate were the main components. The flavor components of jujube brandy were identified by GC-O and 47 flavors were detected. Among them, orange-like (ethyl acetate), apple-like (butanoic acid, ethyl ester), fermented (hexanoic acid, ethyl ester), chocolate-like (nonanoic acid, ethyl ester) and red date-like (dodecanoic acid, ethyl ester) were strongly sensed. Changes in the flavor compounds in the process of aging were detected. During the period of aging, the contents of alcohols, aldehydes and ketones generally decreased, whereas those of esters and acids increased.

Keywords:

Aging, flavor compounds, GC-O, HS-SPME, jujube brandy,

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Competing interests

The authors have no competing interests.

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