Sulfur compounds make significant contributions to baijiu flavor. Results from 240 addition experiments demonstrated 2-furylmethanethiol, dimethyl trisulfide, benzenemethanethiol, methional and sulfur mixtures significantly modulated the release intensity of four characteristic aroma with a sequentially decreasing trend. By constructing the σ-τ interaction and performing statistical analysis, it was confirmed that perceptual interactions between sulfur and flavor compounds are the underlying cause of changes in aroma intensity in mixed systems. This study successfully established an optimized flavor system based on the concentration of sulfur compounds. Experiments revealed significant enhancements in baijiu system: 33.33% increase for fruity notes, 11.11% for floral notes, 8.30% for alcohol notes, while roasted aroma intensity reached levels comparable to actual samples. In addition, the relative concentration-aroma relationship between the concentrations of four sulfur compounds and changes in aroma intensity was provided, which not only provided data support for analyzing the mechanism of flavor contribution, but also established a practical reference for enhancing specific aroma qualities.
Yang et al. (Mon,) studied this question.