Flavor lexicon development (in English and Chinese) and descriptive analysis of Sichuan pepper

Abstract A lexicon in English and Chinese was developed to describe the aroma and flavor profiles of sensory characteristics of Zanthoxylum bungeanum , also known as Sichuan pepper 花椒 or Chinese prickly ash. A trained, experienced descriptive analysis panel was used to determine the flavor characteristics for Sichuan Pepper. A total of 32 sensory attributes were detected, which included 15 attributes for aroma and 17 attributes for flavor. The aroma profile included peppery, green, citrus, pungent, fennel anise, brothy, floral/perfumy, piney, fruity, sweet aromatics, petroleum‐like, chive, earthy, brown, and menthol. The flavor profile included peppery, green, citrus, pungent, minty, floral, piney, fruity, petroleum‐like, earthy, cardboard, green‐viney, umami, bitter, astringent, tingle, and numbing. The lexicon was validated and demonstrated through 16 different Sichuan pepper samples, including subspecies, locations, and brands. Green Sichuan peppers were more highly flavored and more similar to each other than red peppers suggesting that older plants producing red peppers produce milder and slightly more differentiated samples. Practical Applications Sichuan pepper is a major flavor ingredient in some types of Asian cooking. A lexicon is needed to identify the effects of different subspecies and processing technologies for Sichuan pepper in order to understand differences in aroma and flavor among these “peppers.” The developed lexicon has been shown to differentiate among commercial samples.