Influence of Glutinous Rice Raw Material Characteristics on the Aroma Profile of Rice Wine

Rice wine is a beverage rich in flavor, but the flavor difference caused by rice raw materials has received little attention. To determine the key aroma compounds in rice wine, four types of samples were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), gas chromatography–olfactometry (GC-O), and sensory evaluation. Thirty-eight aroma compounds were detected in the experiment, thirteen of which were identified and quantified using the internal standard method. Additionally, multivariate statistical analyses such as partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) effectively revealed three major differential aroma components in rice wine (VIP value ≥ 1). Furthermore, by correlation analysis, it was found that starch and fat in the raw material properties of glutinous rice were significantly and positively correlated with the main differential volatile aroma components in rice wine (p < 0.05). Combined with principal component analysis (PCA), the selection of glutinous rice varieties associated with starch and lipid characteristics during the rice wine brewing process is conducive to improving the overall quality of rice wine.