Correlation between Aroma Compounds and Sensory Properties of Malvasia wines produced in Sicily.

The research evidences the importance of linking sensory and chemical data for characterization of Malvasia wines produced in Sicily. The knowledge of the aroma compounds is of great interest since they influence the quality of the wines; aroma compounds are closely connected with the sensory attributes, which are crucial to determine the consumer acceptability. The simultaneous presence of different aromatic substances such as alcohols, esters, acids, aldehydes, ketones, terpenes closely related to grapes and winemaking will define the character and distinguish the wine from each other. This research reports the volatile composition of some Malvasia wines produced in Sicily (Italy); these data were thus correlated with those obtained by sensory analysis. The sensory profile (UNI 10957, 2003) of the Malvasia samples was defined using a trained panel of sxteen assessors; the judges evaluated attributes regarding appearance, aroma and flavour, taste. Volatile components were analysed using SPME-GC-MS; about 40 volatile components, esters, fatty acids, alcohols, aldehydes, hydrocarbons, terpenes, aromatic compounds and heterocyclic compounds have been identified and quantified using the standard addition method. The relationships between the volatile compounds and sensory properties of the Malvasia wine samples were studied by Analysis of Variance. The volatile constituents and the aroma sensory attributes were in agreement making major contribution to the characterization of the Malvasia wine