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

Abstract 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