Contribution of Ethyl α-D-Glucoside to Flavor Construction in Sakè

Abstract

A glucosidic substance was isolated in crystals from saké and identified as ethyl α-D-glucoside. Twenty five samples of commercially distributed saké were analyzed for the glucoside by gas-liquid chromatography and its content was determined in a range from 0.24 to 0.71g/100ml.
Organoleptic examination on synthetic ethyl α-D-glucoside characterized the glucoside to be a sweet and bitter compound; the threshold values were 1.2 and 0.063g/100ml, respectively. The usual content of the glucoside remarkably exceeded the threshold for bitterness, thus the glucoside was considered to be a bitter component contributing to the construction of the unique flavor in saké.