Characterization of odor-active compounds of various cherry wines by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, gas chromatography–olfactometry and their correlation with sensory attributes

To characterize the aroma of cherry wine, five samples were analyzed by quantitative descriptive sensory analysis, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and gas chromatography–olfactometry (GC–O). The aroma of cherry wines was described by 6 sensory terms as fruity, sour, woody, fermentation, cameral and floral. Fifty-one odor-active (OA) compounds were detected by GC–O and quantified by GC–MS, and 45 of them were identified. Twenty-nine OA compounds having more than 50% detection frequency were selected as specific compounds correlated to sensory attributes by partial least squares regression (PLSR). The correlation result showed ethyl 2-methyl propionate, 2,3-butanedione, ethyl butyrate, ethyl pentanoate, 3-methyl-1-butanol, ethyl hexanoate, 3-hydroxy-2-butanone, ethyl lactate, 1-hexanol, (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol, ethyl hydroxyacetate, acetic acid, furfural, 2-ethyl-1-hexanol, benzaldehyde, propanoic acid, butanoic acid, guaiacol, beta-citronellol, hexanoic acid, 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol, 2-ethyl-3-hydroxy-4H-pyran-4-one, ethyl cinnamate, 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol were typical OA compounds, which covaried with characteristic aroma of cherry wines.