Determination of Key Components of the Roasted Sweet Aroma in Burnt Malt Extracts and Optimization of Its Preparation Process

To develop a tobacco flavor with a prominent style of roasted sweet aroma from burnt malt, the characteristic components in burnt malt extracts were determined by the methods of cigarette sensory evaluation and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS), and the preparation process of burnt malt flavor for cigarettes was optimized with the content of the identified components as index. The results showed that:(1) The characteristic fraction of burnt malt extracts, as determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) separation and sensory evaluation, included 15 key aroma components such as maltol, 4-hydroxy-2,5-dimethyl-3(2H)-furanone and methyl cyclopentenolone. (2) The optimal technical parameters of heat extraction method were ethanol concentration 95%, sample/solvent ratio 1:6, extraction temperature 80℃, extraction time 2 h and extracted twice. The dewaxing parameters of burnt malt extracts were the redissolution ethonal concentration of 95%, the dry matter content of the redissolved fraction 3% and the freezing temperature -20℃. (3) The total content of characteristic aroma components in burnt malt flavor was significantly higher than those of commercially available malt extracts and the crude extracts of burnt malt. The roasted sweet aroma of the cigarettes with addition of the flavor prepared in this study was more prominent than the two control cigarette samples.