Contents and compositions of the aroma in "Wasanbon" sugar

"Wasanbon" sugar is handmade sugar which has been manufactured traditionally in Japan by a unique refining procedure, and is used in the making of Japanese traditional confectionary. No reports have been published on the substances responsible for the unique aroma of "Wasabon" sugar. In this paper, the contents and compositions of the aroma in "Wasabon" sugar and refinery final molasses are reported as studied by column chromatography, gas chromatography, mass spectrometry and sensory evaluation. The samples are the first press-off molasses ("Ara-mitsu" molasses) refinery final molasses, "Shiroshita" sugar (prerefined sugar) and "Wasabon" sugar. The summarized results are as follows: In the acidic fraction, the aroma of 3-phenylpropionic acid is similar to the stored aroma of "Wasabon" sugar, whereas the aroma of its methyl ester was not similar to that aroma. Although aroma contents of the weakly acidic fraction in "Wasabon" sugar and refinery final molasses are 8.5 to 8.7% of those of the acidic fraction, and their main components are cyclotene and maltol, which are formed by thermal degradation of sugar. These components show a higher preference than other weakly acidic fraction aromas, by a paired preference test. Cyclotene and maltol increased about 3.7 and 1.5 times, respectively, by the heating of "Shiroshita" sugar.