Assessing the contribution of odor-active compounds in icewine considering odor mixture-induced interactions through gas chromatography–olfactometry and Olfactoscan

The sensory impact of odor-active compounds on icewine aroma could be influenced by perceptual interactions with other odor-active compounds. The aim of this study was to establish an approach to evaluate the contribution of odor-active compounds found in icewine considering mixture-induced perceptual interactions. By comparing the impact of key odorants detected in icewine following a gas chromatography-olfactometry approach with an Olfactoscan-based methodology using a background odor of icewine, 69 odor zones were detected, and their related compounds were further identified. The results revealed that icewine background odor could exert odor masking or enhancement on key odorants when they are considered in the complex wine aroma buffer. Several compounds can induce qualitative changes in the overall wine aroma. This study underlined the efficiency of Olfactoscan-like approaches to screen for the real impact of key odorants and to pinpoint specific compounds that could be highly influential once embedded in the aroma buffer.