Characterization of volatile components in Eoyuk-jang

Abstract

The volatile components in Eoyuk-jang, a traditional Korean fermented food, were isolated using solvent extraction, and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A total of 36 components, including 11 aliphatic hydrocarbons, 4 acids, 2 ketones, 5 phenols, 7 alcohols, 1 pyrazines, 4 pyrones and foranones, and 2 miscellaneous components, were found in Eoyuk-jang; among them, butanoic acid was quantitatively dominant. In addition, the aroma-active compounds were determined by gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) using aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA). A total of 20 aroma-active compounds were detected by GC-O. Butanoic acid (rancid) and methional (cooked potato-like) were the most potent aroma-active compounds with the highest FD factors (Log3 FD), followed by 2-methyl-2-butanol (soysauce-like), 3-hydroxy-2-butanone (buttery), and 2-furanmethanol (burnt sugar-like).