Volatile composition of Baga red wine assessment of the identification of the would-be impact odourants

Wines produced from Baga native variety from the Portuguese Bairrada Appellation, harvest 2000, were submitted to a liquid-liquid continuous extraction with dichloromethane and analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A total of 53 compounds were identified and quantified. This wine has 225 mg l(-1) volatile compounds, which include aliphatic and aromatic alcohols (44%), acids (27%), esters (15%), lactones (6%), amides (5%), and phenols (1%). To achieve the identification of the major would-be impact odourants, the aroma index was calculated using the concentration of each volatile component and the corresponding odour threshold reported in the literature. This methodology proved suitable, as a preliminary step, for the determination of the would-be impact odourants of Baga wine. From the 53 compounds identified, nine were determined as the most powerful odourants: guaiacol, 3-methylbutanoic acid, 4-ethoxycarbonyl-gamma-butyrolactone, isobutyric acid, 2-phenylethanol, gamma-nonalactone, octanoic acid, ethyl octanoate and 4-(I-hydroxyethyl)-gamma-butyrolactone. These data suggest Baga wine as a fruity-type product with an aroma correlated to a restricted number of compounds. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.