Characterization of Korean Distilled Liquor, Soju, Using Chemical, HS-SPME-GC-MS, and Sensory Descriptive Analysis
Hyoung-Uk Choi, Tae‐Wan Kim, Seung‐Joo Lee
Abstract
, chosen with regard to various raw materials and distillation methods (atmospheric vs. vacuum), were explored using headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and descriptive analysis. General chemical properties such as pH, total acidity (TA), total soluble solids (°Brix), and lactic acid concentration were also determined. A total of 56 volatile compounds, comprising 31 esters, 11 alcohols, 1 acid, 4 aldehydes, 3 ketones, and 6 miscellaneous compounds, were identified. From the principal component analysis (PCA) of the volatile data, samples made using atmospheric distillation such as MSO and PJU showed a clear difference from decompressed distillation samples. Based on the PCA of the sensory data, there was also a clear distinction between samples by their distillation method. To explore relationships among chemical, volatile, and sensory data sets, multiple factor analysis (MFA) was applied. Yeasty and earthy flavors showed a close relationship with 1-nonanol, octatonic acid, and longer-chain esters such as ethyl phenylacetate and ethyl tetradecanoate, and with chemical parameters such as TA, °Brix, and lactic acid.