An electric-field instrument for accelerated aging to improve flavor of Chinese Baijiu

Chinese Baijiu is a traditional distilled spirit that is consumed abundantly in China and around the world. Aging would dramatically increase the flavor of Baijiu, and famous Baijiu usually needs the long storage time for aging. Therefore, artificial aging that could accelerate the flavor improvement is in high demand. In this study, an electric-field treatment device was developed for the electric-field aging of the liquor. We used three types of strong-flavor crude Baijiu from different manufacturers in Sichuan as samples for electric-field aging. The total acids and esters, volatile flavor components, and sensory evaluation of the Baijiu samples before and after treatment were determined. It was found that the total acids and total esters of the Baijiu samples decreased and increased, respectively, with aging. The composition of volatile components changed after the aging treatment, and the volatile flavor components associated with the changes in the quality of Baijiu were analyzed. Combined with the sensory evaluation results, it was concluded that the quality of the treated Baijiu was significantly improved via electric-field aging. The result showed that electric-field aging can be an effective way to improve the flavor of Baijiu.