Abstract
To examine aroma compounds responsible for “hineka ” in commercial sake, we carried out a quantitative analysis of aroma compounds and a sensory analysis for commercial sake in which “hineka” was pointed out in the national survey of commercial sake. We also analyzed commercial sake without “hineka” and commercial aged sake (stored for more than 3 years) for comparison. Volatile aldehydes, ethyl esters, polysulfides (DMDS and DMTS), furfural, and sotolon increased in the order of: commercial sake without “hineka”, commercial sake with “hineka”, and commercial aged sake. Results of a principal component analysis suggested that commercial sake with “hineka” was characterized by relatively high levels of polysulfides, while commercial aged sake stored for long periods was characterized by high levels of sotolon, volatile aldehydes, furfural, and diethyl succinate. A sensory analysis of the commercial sake showed that the logarithm of DMTS concentration correlated with the “hineka ” score, while that of sotolon did not. These results suggest that DMTS contributes greatly to “hineka ” in commercial sake.
