Effect of Aging Time on Volatile Flavor Substances of Rosy Vinegar

To investigate the effects of different aging times on the volatile flavor substances of rosy vinegar, headspace solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS), principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) were used to investigate the physicochemical and volatile flavor components of fresh, one-year-old, three-year-old and ten-year-old samples. The results showed that the content of reducing sugars and amino acid nitrogen increased during aging, and promoted the flavor and color development of rosy vinegar. A total of 79 volatile flavor substances were detected in rosy vinegar by HS-SPME-GC-MS, among which most of the esters were degraded during aging, while the content of carbonyl compounds and pyrazines increased significantly during aging. 13 volatile compounds with odor activity value greater than 1 were calculated in rosy vinegar by odor threshold value, and the main odor-presenting compounds differed in different aging periods. Principal component and cluster analyses revealed significant separation among the rosy vinegar samples at different aging periods, indicated that the aging time has an important influence on the composition of volatile substances in rosy vinegar.