Study on aroma constituents of soy sauce-comparison on premium soy sauce and light soy sauce

The aroma constituents in premium soy sauce and light soy sauce were extracted by ethyl ether and identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS).The relative contents of the aroma constituents were determined by area normalization method.Fouty-three and thirty-six compounds were identified respectively form the ethyl ether extracts of original soy sauce and light soy sauce.The major aroma components in original soy sauce included phenethyl alcohol,2-methylpropanol,3-methylbutanol,4-hydroxyphenethyl alcohol,3-(methylthio)-propanol,hexadecanoic acid ethyl ester,ethyl linoleate,acetic acid,2-furanmethanol,etc.The major aroma components in light soy sauce included 2-furanmethanol,acetic acid,3,8-dihydroxy-2-methylchromone,6-methyl-2-pyrazinylmethanol,furfural,maltol,furoic acid,1-H-pyrrole-2-carboxaldehyde,5,6-dihydro-5,6-dimethyl benocinnoline,1-furfuryl-2-formyl-pyrrole,1-(2-)furanyl ethanon,etc.The results showed that the aroma components in premium soy sauce mainly belonged to alcohols and esters,but the heterocyclic compounds were majority in light soy sauce.