Banana liqueur: Optimization of the alcohol and sugar contents, sensory profile and analysis of volatile compounds

The objective of this study was to evaluate the acceptability of liqueur based on its sensory profile, physicochemical composition and presence of the volatile compounds responsible for the aroma of the banana and banana liqueur. Sensory acceptance was conducted to investigate the effect of alcohol content of the extracting solution on produced liqueurs. In addition, liqueurs were elaborated using different contents of alcohol and sugar, which were evaluated as for pH, soluble solids, refractive index, density, absorbance, colorimetric parameters, besides the sensory analysis to judge the overall impression and the purchase intention of the products. A sensory characterization of the samples was performed by the Optimized Descriptive Profile (ODP) method. The volatile compounds were determined by solid phase microextraction and injected into the gas chromatograph coupled to the mass spectrometer. Adjusted models showed that the alcohol content of 61.87 °GL of the extractive solution and alcohol (17.29 °GL) and sugar (289.89 g L−1) content of the final product may show greater acceptance and intention to purchase banana liqueur. In the ODP, the samples differed based on their adherence, alcoholic aroma, alcoholic taste and sweet taste. Volatile compounds characterized as esters were found on the banana and liqueur.