Volatile compounds in wild strawberry and their odorants of wild strawberry wines: Effects of different stages of fermentation

Abstract

Wild strawberries are grown widely in southern Shaanxi (China), but information about their sensory and chemical characteristics is scant. In this work, exploratory research was conducted to correlate the results of instrumental analyses of the aroma compounds in wild strawberry wine and their sensory perception. Headspace solid-phase micro extraction (HS-SPME) was used for the pretreatment, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was to analyze the aroma compounds. A total of 78 volatile compounds were identified, including 25 alcohols, 25 esters, four acids, five ketones, four aldehydes, nine terpenes, five phenols, and one styrene, but only 74 could be quantified. Odor activity values (OAVs) were determined for 21 odor-active compounds. Six were identified as the characteristic aroma substances for the wild strawberries from a principal component analysis (PCA) of the composition, in particular methyl 2-methylbutyrate, ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, ethyl 3-methylbutyrate, (E)-3-hexen-1-ol, 1-octen-3-ol, and phenylacetaldehyde. Sensory evaluation by a trained panel using descriptive analysis also revealed that sweetness was the main attribute in wild strawberry and its wines, and differences in varietal flavors were also observed. Wild strawberry wine is proved to exhibit a high quality of its fruit flavor, and thus winemaking is a performable practice for wild strawberry.