Identification of Compounds Contributing to Trigeminal\nPungency of Baijiu by Sensory Evaluation, Quantitative Measurements,\nCorrelation Analysis, and Sensory Verification Testing

Pungency is one of the most important\nmouthfeel characteristics\nthat is primarily related to the sensory quality of distilled spirits.\nHowever, the chemical basis of pungency is still unclear. A set of\nBaijiu samples with different levels of pungency was characterized\nby sensory analysis and volatile compound analyses. Several esters,\naldehydes, and acids significantly correlated with pungency. Ethyl\nhexanoate, ethyl acetate, 3-methylbutyl hexanoate, acetaldehyde, acetal,\nand 3-methylbutanal were confirmed to be the strongest contributors\nto the pungency of Baijiu by the two-alternative forced-choice test.\nSensory recombination testing further revealed that the contribution\nof esters to pungency was much higher than that of the aldehydes,\nand acid compounds at low concentrations suppress the pungency perception.\nIn this study, the importance of esters in the pungency of distilled\nspirits is first reported. The results provide an instructive basis\nfor further research into optimizing the quality of products.