Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 12, 2025

Integration of Animal Behavioral Assessment and Convolutional Neural Network to Study Wasabi-Alcohol Taste-Smell Interaction
Published on: August 16, 2024
Exploring the Mystery of the Sweetness of Baijiu by Sensory Evaluation, Compositional Analysis and Multivariate Data
Yulu Sun1,2,3, Yue Ma1,2,3, Shuang Chen1,2,3
1Lab of Brewing Microbiology and Applied Enzymology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, China.
Abstract:
Sweetness is an important Baijiu quality marker, but there is limited research on it. In this study, the main contributors to Baijiu sweetness were identified by "sensomics" combined with "flavoromics". A total of 43 volatile compounds (mostly esters) were found that appeared to contribute to Baijiu sweetness, through sensory-guided fractionation and compositional analysis. Correlation analysis between the volatile composition and perceived sweetness of 18 Baijiu samples with different sweet intensities identified 14 potential contributors. Additional testing verified that combining the 14 compounds reproduced Baijiu sweetness exactly, and omission testing identified ethyl hexanoate, hexyl hexanoate and ethyl 3-methylbutanoate as the major contributors to Baijiu sweetness. These findings not only broadened our understanding of Baijiu sweetness, but also highlighted the major contribution of volatile compounds to sweetness perception, knowledge which may facilitate future flavor modification of a wide variety of foods and beverages.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Gustation
Taste Buds and Receptors
The Physiology of Taste
Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System
The receptor level:
The receptor level is the first stage of sensation. It involves the detection of a stimulus by specialized sensory receptors. The stimulus must arrive within the receptor's receptive field. Next, the receptor converts the energy of the...
Sensory Modalities
General senses refer to the broad category of sensory information detected by receptors in the body and can be further grouped into somatic and visceral senses. Somatic sensations include touch, pressure, temperature, and pain and are essential for navigating our environment and...

