Volatile aroma compound-based decoding and prediction of sweet berry aromas in dry red wine

To explore the volatile markers of typical sweet berry flavors in dry red wine, Marselan, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc wines were pretreated using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and liquid-liquid extraction-solvent-assisted flavor evaporation (LLE-SAFE), and key odorants were analyzed using sensomics approach. Results indicated that Marselan wines exhibited intense sweet berry aromas compared to other varieties wines. Omission tests on one- and four-year-aged wines identified β-damascenone, isoamyl acetate, 2,3-butanediol, phenylethanol as sweet aroma markers, while geranyl acetone, ethyl isobutyrate, ethyl 2-methylbutyrate as berry aroma markers, which were verified by partial least squares regression. Meanwhile, optimal flavor intensity prediction models between sweet/berry aroma and volatile markers natural logarithms concentration were created with all wines. Moreover, consistent with aroma intensity, most berry markers content increased during aging while sweet markers decreased. This study completes the analytical methodology for volatile markers of wine typical aroma and provides theoretical support for wine flavor prediction.