Formation and release of rice aroma compounds during cooking: a comprehensive review

Rice aroma is a key quality attribute that greatly influences consumer acceptance and eating experience. During cooking, complex biochemical and thermal reactions generate and transform numerous volatile compounds, while their contributions to aroma perception are further regulated by release from the rice matrix. Previous reviews have primarily focused on aroma composition, formation pathways, or the effects of individual cooking conditions, whereas the dynamic relationships among precursor evolution, aroma formation, matrix interactions, and release remain insufficiently integrated. This review provides a process-oriented perspective on cooked rice aroma by examining the coupled formation and release of aroma compounds throughout cooking. Recent advances in dynamic aroma profiling, precursor transformation, and the physicochemical evolution of rice grains are discussed alongside the major formation pathways, including lipid oxidation, Maillard reactions, and the degradation of amino acids and carbohydrates. Particular emphasis is placed on the temporal changes in aroma compounds and their release behavior in relation to temperature evolution, moisture migration, and structural transformations of rice grains. The roles of proteins, starch, and lipids in regulating volatile retention, partitioning, and release are further examined, with attention to protein structural changes, starch gelatinization and retrogradation, and the interactions between aroma compounds and macromolecules. The review also critically evaluates the challenges in linking volatile concentrations and release kinetics with odor activity and sensory perception, highlighting the need for time-resolved aroma analysis, stable-isotope tracing, and integrated sensory-chemical approaches. By connecting aroma precursor evolution, formation, matrix interactions, release, and perception, this review advances a quantitative understanding of cooked rice aroma and provides a scientific basis for optimizing aroma quality through targeted breeding and rational cooking process design.