Effects of fermentation on flavor and antioxidant activity in ginkgo rice wine

Ginkgo seed is a kind of food and medicine homologous goods. It is a feasible method to use Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Non-Saccharomyces yeast to ferment ginkgo rice wine (GRW) to remove the bitter taste and retain the biological activity. In order to better explore the formation of the unique flavor and taste of GRW, the volatile flavor compounds and sensory properties of GRWs fermented at different time were analyzed by GC-MS, GC-IMS and electronic sensory evaluation techniques. In addition, the changes of phenols in GRW were determined by LC-MS, and the antioxidant activity was dynamically monitored. GC-MS analysis showed the content of ethyl laurate, isoamyl acetate, ethyl heptanoate, 1-pentanol, ethanol and 1-propanol increased significantly with the progress of fermentation, among which ethyl acetate (OAV = 23.0), ethyl heptanoate (OAV = 44.4) and isoamyl acetate (OAV = 34.7) were the key flavor compounds of GRW at 60 h. GC-IMS analysis suggested some alcohols and ketones were significantly enriched at 60 h, including 2-pentanone, acetone, 1-butanol, 1-hexanol. Electronic sensory technology showed GRW at 60 h had strong mellow and fruity aroma due to benzoic acid, butyric acid and 2-methylbutyric acid. The bitterness and umami intensity in GRW gradually decreased, while the astringency and aftertaste increased. Furthermore, LC-MS results indicated the types of phenols increased, including quinic acid, shikimic acid, sorbic acid, etc., which significantly improved the antioxidant activity of GRW. Together, the flavor quality and biological activity of GRW had been effectively improved through microbial fermentation, which indicated that GRW had potential market prospects.