Basic flavor types and component characteristics of Chinese traditional liquors: A review

• Published in: Journal of food science Vol. 85; no. 12; pp. 4096 - 4107
• Main Authors: Wei, Yang, Zou, Wei, Shen, Cai‐Hong, Yang, Jian‐Gang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.12.2020
• Subjects: Alcoholic Beverages - analysis; Alcohols; Aldehydes; Aroma; Aromatic compounds; Brewing; Chemical composition; China; Chinese traditional liquor; distilled spirits; Esters; Fermentation; flavor; flavor component; flavor type; Flavoring Agents - chemistry; Flavors; Humans; Ketones; koji; nitrogen; Nitrogen compounds; Odorants - analysis; production process; Spirits; Taste; China; flavor component; production process; Chinese traditional liquor; flavor type
• ISSN: 0022-1147; 1750-3841; 1750-3841
• DOI: 10.1111/1750-3841.15536

Chinese traditional liquor, a major type of global distilled spirits, offers a unique flavor system acquired across thousands of years of development. Owing to the various raw brewing materials, types of koji, fermentation vessels, and processes used during liquor production, significant differences can occur in the content of flavor chemical components, such as esters, alcohols, aromatics, ketones, nitrogen compounds, acids, and aldehydes in the resulting liquor. Therefore, the liquor can be characterized on the basis of four basic flavors: sauce‐, strong‐, light‐, and rice‐aroma, and eight derivative flavors: feng‐, sesame‐, chi‐, te‐, mixed‐, laobaigan‐, herbal‐, and fuyu‐aroma. In this review, we describe the production and development process of Chinese traditional liquor in detail; summarize the flavor types, flavor chemical composition characteristics, and research progress related to this liquor; and discuss the influence of trace chemical components on liquor flavor, with the aim of laying a theoretical foundation for stabilizing the quality and increasing the yield of traditional liquor.