Flavour Analysis of Chinese Cereal Vinegar

Chinese cereal vinega represented the east vinegar, is well known to the world. In order to understand the Chinese cereal vinegar further, its characteristic flavour should be researched. The purpose of the work is to find out the characteristic flavour compounds and analyze the dynamic variation trend in the process of Chinese cereal vinegar fermentation. HS- SPME fibered with polyacrylate (PA) was used in detecting aromatic compounds. It was found that in the ethanol fermentation, ethanol increased rapidly, and other aromatic compounds accumulated slowly; in the acetic acid fermentation, acetic acid and esters increased fast with reduction of alcohol, while phenols, aldehyde, ketones, hydrocarbons and heterocyclic were still slowly accumulated. The characteristic aromatic compounds were ethyl acetate, isoamyl acetate, phenylethyl acetate, β-phenylethyl alcohol and 4-Vinylguaiacol. The contents of organic acids reached 6.79±0.11 g/100 g sample finally, and acetic acid, succinic acid, malic acid and lactic acid were the main organic acids. The variation trend of the characteristic flavour compounds had been found out preliminarily, which could be the symbol of Chinese cereal vinegar and the basis of further study. Here, the foundation for improving flavour and quality of Chinese cereal vinegar was established.