Insights on the role of acetaldehyde and other aldehydes in the odour and tactile nasal perception of red wine
Wine models with or without a dearomatised and lyophilized red wine extract containing a young red aroma base (control) plus one vector with one or several aroma compounds (unsaturated-aldehydes, saturated-aldehydes, benzaldehyde, isoamyl-alcohol, methoxypyrazines and (Z)-1,5-octadien-3-one) were prepared. Models were spiked with increasing amounts of acetaldehyde whose headspace concentrations were controlled. Odour and nasal chemesthesic properties were assessed by a trained sensory panel. Results confirm the contribution of the different players, notably isoamyl-alcohol, (Z)-1,5-octadien-3-one, benzaldehyde and methoxypyrazines, to wine aroma and tactile nasal characteristics and demonstrate that acetaldehyde levels play an outstanding role in their modulation. At low levels, it can play positive roles in some specific aromatic contexts, while at higher levels, enhance the negative effects associated to the generic presence of other aldehydes (saturated, unsaturated and Strecker aldehydes) by enhancing "green vegetable" notes and "itching" character and the "burning" effects linked to high levels of isoamyl alcohol. ; Funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) (project AGL2017-87373-C3, RTC-2015-3379 and RTC-2016-4935-2) and partly co-funded by the European Union (FEDER). I.A. acknowledges the MINECO for his predoctoral fellowship (FPU-2015). LAAE acknowledges the continuous support of Diputación General de Aragón (T53) and the European Social Fund. The authors also express their gratitude to the panellist for participating in the study. MPSN acknowledges the Spanish National Research Agency, the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities and the European Social Fund for her postdoctoral fellowship: Ramón y Cajal Program (RYC2019-027995-I/AEI/10.13039/501100011033).