Abstract

Suansun is a sour Chinese traditional fermented bamboo shoot product popular in Central and South Asia due to its unique flavor. The volatile compounds and their odor-activities in suansun are unknowns, which hinders the control of the fermentation and causes variations in the flavor and other properties. In order to assess the odor characteristics of suansun and its unique volatile components, headspace solid phase microextraction gas chromatography mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS) and aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA) coupled with gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) were used in this study to analyze three types of suansun samples. The results showed that a total of 43 volatiles were identified and quantified. Sixteen compounds, including five alcohols, four aromatics, four aldehydes, two carboxylic acids, and one ester, had high odor activity values exceeding 1. Fifteen odorants, including four unknowns, were detected by AEDA; eight of these compounds, 1-octen-3-ol, geraniol, p-cresol, nonanal, decanal, (E)-2-nonenal, phenylethyl alcohol, and octanoic acid, had high flavor dilution factors exceeding 243. Triangle difference tests showed that a mixture of p-cresol and octanoic acid revealed a high similarity to one of the symbolic “fermentation” odors in commercial suansun. The composition of the unique odor of suansun is better understood, which provides a theoretical basis for solving the quality control problems existing in the production process and lays a foundation for the modern production of this important product.