The contribution of sotolon and furfural to the aroma of aged sake was investigated. These compounds were strongly detected in aged sake by GC-olfactometry. They were quantified by solvent extraction and GC-MS analysis. The coefficient of variation of sotolon decreased to less than 10% by using 13 C2-labeled sotolon instead of 3-octanol as an internal standard. Concentration of sotolon in aged sake was higher than its recognition threshold but furfural was not. The odor unit of sotolon in 26 years old sake was 61. It was suggested that sotolon contributes greatly to the aroma of aged sake. Concentrations of α-ketobutyric acid and acetaldehyde, which are considered to be precursors of sotolon, were investigated and a correlation with sotolon was observed. However, the possibility of another mechanism of sotolon formation was also suggested.
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Isogai et al. (2004) studied this question.