Untargeted foodomics reveals molecular mechanism of magnetic field effect on Feng-flavor Baijiu ageing

Ageing is a time-consuming step in Baijiu manufacture, stimulating an urgent requirement of optimization. Variation of artificial aged Feng-flavor Baijiu by inhomogeneous alternating magnetic field was investigated through quantitative foodomics combined with confirmed ultra high performance liquid chromatography quadrupole-orbitaltrap high resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap). A total of 153 substances were identified with significant variables (p < 0.05, VIP > 1) and 16 metabolic pathways related to Feng-flavor Baijiu functions were obtained. The method showed good accuracy with recovery values between 80.4% and 117.4% and precision lower than 9.8% for all characteristic substances. Limit of detection (LOD) was ranging between 1.6 and 10.0 μg/L with R 2  ≥ 0.99. Factor analysis demonstrated that ageing degree of magnetized samples increased with rise of magnetic field intensity and the maximum effect was equivalent to 12.81 years of natural ageing. The results of stoichiometric analysis revealed that regulation of magnetic field on proportion in Baijiu was mainly performed through entropy and the hydrogen bond strength of Baijiu molecules. Sensory evaluation illustrated that score of Baijiu samples reached the highest at 150 mT, demonstrating that magnetic field treatment can be considered as an optimized ageing means for Feng-flavor Baijiu.