Baijiu, renowned for its rich and unique flavor characteristics, occupies a singular position among distilled spirits globally.The flavor is the result of the joint action of the aroma and taste its of its flavor substance, but compared with the research on aroma, the exploration of Baijiu taste is relatively lagging behind.To explore the complex and diverse taste substance basis of Baijiu, the taste threshold of 43 flavor skeleton components in Baijiu were determined by three-alternative forced-choice method with 46%vol ethanol aqueous solution as matrix.The results of threshold determination showed that the taste characteristics of compounds with the same or similar structural formulas were similar, most esters were sweet, and higher alcohols were bitter and organic acids were sour.Compounds with the same taste characteristics also had different flavor characteristics, such as sweetness including fruity sweetness, sour-sweet, or fragrant-sweet.Thus, attention should be paid to the refinement of flavor description when designing product flavor.In addition, the concentration effect and individual differences had an important influence on the determination of taste threshold.The determination of taste threshold should try to keep the determination time consistent with the determination environment, increase the number of tasters appropriately, and strengthen the taste evaluation training of tasters to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the determination results.This study further enriched the research content of Baijiu flavor, provided a more detailed and accurate threshold reference for the research of Baijiu taste, and was of great significance to the sensory evaluation, liquor body design, and quality improvement of Baijiu industry.
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