Comparison of fermented soybean paste (Doenjang) prepared by different methods based on profiling of volatile compounds

In this study, 2 different extraction methods, namely solvent-assisted flavor evaporation (SAFE) and solid-phase microextraction (SPME), were employed to investigate the comprehensive volatile profile ofDoenjang(one of Korean fermented soybean pastes) efficiently. Quantitatively, major volatiles ofDoenjangisolated by SAFE were 3-methylbutanoic acid, butanoic acid, 3-hydroxy-2-methyl-4H-pyran-4-one (maltol), ethyl 2-methylbutanoate, 2-methylpropanoic acid, tetramethylpyrazine, and 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol, while ethanol, ethenylbenzene, ethyl benzoate, ethyl linoleate, ethyl acetate, ethyl butanoate, tetramethylpyrazine, and ethyl 2-methylpropanoate extracted by SPME. In addition, volatile profiling that applied principal component analysis to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry datasets allowedDoenjangsamples that had been prepared using different traditional and commercial methods to be discriminated, and the volatile compounds that contributed to their discrimination were assigned. The major volatiles that were related to differentiation of traditional and commercialDoenjangsamples were 2-pentylfuran, 4-ethylphenol, dihydro-5-methyl-2(3H)-furanone, butanoic acid, pyrazines (for example, 2-ethyl-5-methylpyrazine and 2,3-dimethylpyrazine), esters (for example, ethyl 4-methylpentanoate and diethyl succinate), maltol, dimethyl disulfide, 2- and 3-methylbutanal, hexanal, 4-vinylphenol, and ethanol.