Characterization of the aroma-active compounds in black soybean sauce, a distinctive soy sauce

Black soybean sauce’s (BSS) aroma was scarcely investigated, which seriously affected BSS’s quality and consumers’ preference. Thus the aroma compounds in BSS were characterized using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/gas chromatography–olfactometry coupling with recombination and omission experiments. Sensory evaluation showed the fruity odor was increased by 63% and the malty, alcoholic, floral, smoky, caramel-like and sour odors were decreased by 24–35% when compared to the control soy sauce (SS, p  < 0.05). Totally, 126 volatile compounds, 44 aroma-active compounds and 22 vital aroma-active compounds were identified in BSS. Compared to SS, BSS exhibited a distinctive aroma characteristics which was caused by significantly higher odor activity values (OAVs) of 3-methylbutyl acetate (357%), ethyl propanoate (144%), ethyl 3-methylbutanoate (70%), ethyl 2-methylbutanoate (102%) and lower OAVs of 4-hydroxy-2,5-dimethyl-3(2H)-furanone (52%), 4-hydroxy-2-ethyl-5-methyl-3(2H)-furan-3-one (50%), ethanol (48%), 4-vinylguaiacol (41%), 3-methylthiopropanal (37%), 3-methylbutanol (33%), 4-ethylguaiacol (28%). The results would contribute to BSS’s quality control and aroma improvement.