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Characterization of the key aroma-active compounds in Yangjiang Douchi by sensory-directed flavor analysis

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Abstract

As a kind of traditional fermented soybean food in China, douchi produced in Yangjiang is widely used in Cantonese cuisine and prepared foods and is exported to more than 30 countries. Yangjiang Douchi has a unique flavor and in-depth research on it can enhance its aroma quality. In this study, the key aroma-active compounds were characterized by the combined gas chromatography–olfactometry detection (GC–O) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) with sensory evaluation. In total, 39 aroma compounds were identified, and 18 of them with flavor dilution (FD) > 4 were determined. After quantifying, it was found that there were 12 aroma-active compounds with odor activity value (OAV) > 1. It was further verified that 9 aroma-active compounds contributed greatly to the aroma including acetic acid, 4,5-dimethyl-3-hydroxy-2,5-dihydrofuran-2-one, 3-methylbutyric acid, maltol, guaiacol, phenylacetaldehyde, furanone, 3-methylthiopropanal and 1-methoxy-4-propenylbenzene. Sensory evaluations showed that the flavor profile mainly consisted of sauce-like, sour, nutty, smoky, caramel-like, and fruity notes.

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Data availability

The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

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Funding

This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, grant number 32072347.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing Key Laboratory of Flavor Chemistry, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, 100048, China

    Zhuoxuan Han, Jing Zhang, Shuqi Wang, Haitao Chen, Jie Sun, Ning Zhang & Huiying Zhang

  2. School of Light Industry, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, 100048, China

    Zhuoxuan Han, Jing Zhang, Shuqi Wang, Haitao Chen, Jie Sun, Ning Zhang & Huiying Zhang

Authors
  1. Zhuoxuan Han
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  2. Jing Zhang
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  3. Shuqi Wang
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  4. Haitao Chen
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  6. Ning Zhang
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  7. Huiying Zhang
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Contributions

ZH: investigation, conceptualization, methodology, data curation, writing-original draft preparation. JZ: sample collection, investigation. JS, NZ and HZ: methodology. SQ: writing—review and editing, methodology. HC: supervision, funding acquisition, resources, writing—review and editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shuqi Wang.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethical statement

In this study, participants in the sensory evaluations were selected from a pool of highly trained evaluators who volunteered to perform the sensory test. All participants were informed of the purpose and the procedures of the experiment in advance and gave written consent to take part in the sensory analysis for voluntary. People could withdraw from the test at any time. Panelists were in good health and had no known allergy to the components.

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Han, Z., Zhang, J., Wang, S. et al. Characterization of the key aroma-active compounds in Yangjiang Douchi by sensory-directed flavor analysis. Eur Food Res Technol 250, 603–614 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-023-04415-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-023-04415-6

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