Odorant Release from Alcoholic Beverages

Abstract

Odorant release from alcoholic beverages creates the pleasant odor before drinking as well as contributing to the overall flavor during consumption, thus an important feature for the consumer. Odorant release between a gas and a liquid phase is conventionally explained by the partition coefficient. Partition depends on the polarity of the liquid phase and changes in odorant equilibria have been noted as the liquid phase changes from a purely aqueous environment to an ethanolic solution. However, the dynamics of odorant release rely on physicochemical mechanisms other than partition and, with ethanolic solutions; odorant release is affected by the nature of the gas-liquid interface and the access of ethanol to that interface. Using a range of surface active agents and by using thermal imaging of the surface, the effect of these interfacial effects on odorant release has been probed. The conclusion is that the nature of the interface affects mass transfer in the bulk phase and therefore has the most effect on odorant release prior to consumption.

Effect of ethanol on flavor perception of Rum

“…In this study, all aroma attributes were highest in the original rums. (Marangoni, 1865;Rayleigh, 1916) would still occur at 20% ABV, as it has been previously demonstrated in 12% ABV systems (Taylor et al, 2010), and this may explain why the aroma attribute intensities did not decrease as much as expected.…”

“…It is likely that the decrease in ethanol concentration caused an increase in the polarity of the system. Additionally, the evaporation effect and subsequent stirring caused by the Marangoni effect and Rayleigh‐Bénard convection (Marangoni, ; Rayleigh, ) would still occur at 20% ABV, as it has been previously demonstrated in 12% ABV systems (Taylor et al., ), and this may explain why the aroma attribute intensities did not decrease as much as expected.…”

“…These results validate the initial hypothesis that the dilution to a lower alcohol concentration would cause a decrease in attribute intensity, particularly regarding aroma. Previous analytical studies on dynamic systems showed that higher ethanol concentration had higher headspace concentrations of volatiles (Taylor et al., ; Tsachaki, Linforth, & Taylor, ; Tsachaki et al., ). In this study, all aroma attributes were highest in the original rums.…”

Evaluation of novel green walnut liqueur as a source of antioxidants: Multi-method approach

“…This result corroborates with the previous findings that ethanol influences considerably on sensorial perceptions of distilled beverages. The possible explanations appear to be associated with anesthetic qualities and stimulative effects on the trigeminal nerves of ethanol, which may diminish the other odor-active compounds in distilled beverages (Taylor et al 2010). Based on the total sensory score, the excellent sensory quality of GWL, comparable and not significantly different (p [ 0.05) from popular commercial similar spirits, was observed by the panel of experts, which indicates the market feasibility for this natural product with pronounced functional properties.…”

Climate change associated effects on grape and wine quality and production

“…However, some important aroma compounds including linalool and 3-mercaptohexan-1-ol were found to be more volatile at high alcohol concentrations and, accordingly, their sensory threshold decreased under these conditions (Fischer, 2010). Using dynamic headspace methods, which mimic practical wine tasting conditions more closely, ethanol significantly enhanced the release of several volatiles (Taylor et al, 2010;Tsachaki, Linforth, & Taylor, 2005Tsachaki et al, 2008), suggesting that in addition to odorant partition, mass transfer in the bulk phase needs to be considered as an essential parameter to assess the effect of changing alcohol concentrations on volatility and perception thresholds of aroma compounds in wines.…”