Characterization of perceptual interactions among ester aroma compounds found in Chinese Moutai Baijiu by gas chromatography-olfactometry, odor Intensity, olfactory threshold and odor activity value.

Ester aroma compounds in Chinese Moutai Baijiu were extracted by liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) or headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and identified and quantified by gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and 13 of them were recognized as the important aroma compounds based on their flavor dilution (FD) values and odor activity values (OAVs). The perceptual interactions of ethyl isobutyrate and ethyl isovalerate for the overall esters aroma in 53% aqueous ethanol solution were studied through the odor intensity, olfactory threshold and OAV. The Vector Model showed that odor partial addition had occurred after mixing. The Feller's additive model and OAV analysis revealed that various concentrations of ethyl isobutyrate and ethyl isovalerate gave additive or synergistic odor effects for mixtures. In particular, as the concentration of ethyl isobutyrate was increased before mixing, the trend of increasing degree of interaction was observed in the mixture.