Analysis of aroma components in apple brandy at different distillation stages by HS-SPME/GC-MS

Headspace solid- phase micro- extraction( HS- SPME) and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry( GC-MS) were employed to analyse the aroma components in different distillation fractions of apple brandy.The results indicated that a total of 48 compounds were detected,including 27 esters,7 alcohols,7 organic acids and trace aldehydes,ketones and terpene. The ethyl caprylate,ethyl caprate,ethyl caproate,ethyl benzoate,hexyl alcohol,isoamyl alcohol and phenethyl alcohol were dominant.During the distillation,the concentration of esters and alcohols firstly increased,and then decreased. Clustering analysis showed that the aroma profiles were obvious difference in different distillation fractions.And the aroma components in the initial distillation fraction were abundant but low concentration.In the final distillation fraction,they were less on the concern of species and concentration.While,the aroma profile were similar in the other distillation fractions. The distillation principle of the aroma components in current works had provided a scientific basis to optimize the distillation process for high- quality Xiaojin apple brandy.