Characterization of aroma-active compounds in three Chinese Moutai liquors by gas chromatography-olfactometry, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and sensory evaluation

The aroma-active compounds in three Chinese Moutai liquors, aged 1year, 15years and 30years were investigated in this study. The aroma compounds were analysed by gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A total of 79 aroma compounds were identified. Aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA) was further employed to identify the aroma-active compounds. A total of 35 aroma-active compounds with flavour dilution (FD) values 64 simultaneously in three Chinese Moutai liquors were quantitated. Among them, ethyl acetate, ethyl lactate and acetic acid appeared with the highest concentrations. They were all >1000mg/L. Then, the relationships between the aroma-active compounds and seven sensory attributes were studied.