Beyond traditional balsamic vinegar: Compositional and sensorial characteristics of industrial balsamic vinegars and regulatory requirements

• Compositional data for a new generation of balsamic vinegars, including Greek BVs.
• Lexicon development for balsamic vinegar sensory characteristics.
• Composition variability points to need for manufacturing process standardization.
• HMF content as a potential quality marker due to high variability.
• High Pungency and Acidity, low Sweetness characterizes the new products.

Recently, new products with the name of balsamic vinegar (BV) have emerged worldwide and are rapidly gaining popularity along with the well-known Italian BVs. For the first time, the major physicochemical and sensorial characteristics of BVs produced in Greece were analyzed using recommended protocols, high throughput techniques (nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), HPLC) and sensory descriptive analysis carried out by trained panelists. Data are discussed in comparison to those for Italian balsamic vinegars of Modena (BVMs) (Protected Geographical Indication, PGI). Greek BVs, although in line with existing official requirements, exhibited great variability in the content of individual sugars, organic acids and titratable acidity, which were reflected in both quality parameters and sensorial scores. Their heterogeneous sensorial profile was mainly characterized by high scores in Pungency, Acidity and low ones in Sweetness. From the chemical safety point of view, 5-hydroxymethyl-furfural (HMF) content was found to vary significantly, and future regulatory revision should consider this parameter. Our findings can assist the efforts of manufacturers of new BVs beyond minimum regulatory requirements.