FOOD SCIENCE ›› 2021, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (15): 242-250.doi: 10.7506/spkx1002-6630-20200525-295

• Reviews • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effect of Flavor Substances in Alcoholic Beverages on Ethanol Metabolism in Human Body: A Review

JIANG Yang, ZHANG Cuiying, LI Yu, XIAO Dongguang   

  1. (1. State Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology, Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Industrial Microbiology, Tianjin Engineering Research Center of Microbial Metabolism and Fermentation Process Control, College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China; 2. Key Laboratory of Strong-Flavor Baijiu Solid-State Fermentation, China National Light Industry, Yibin 644007, China; 3. Key Laboratory of Nutrition, Metabolism and Food Safety, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China)
  • Online:2021-08-15 Published:2021-08-27

Abstract: Flavor compounds in alcoholic beverages (ABs) refer to trace organic components, mainly including alcohols, aldehydes, acids, esters, aromatics and terpenes. Flavor compounds account for approximately 2% of the total volume of ABs, while they play a vital role in the quality, style and typicality of ABs. It has been gradually accepted that flavor substances in ABs affect both their quality and human health, and therefore have drawn increasing research interest.?The metabolism of flavor compounds from ABs (especially flavor skeleton compounds that account for more than 90% of the total amount) in the body can influence the oxidation and decomposition rate of ethanol. This article provides an overview of skeleton flavor components in ABs, and the metabolic mechanisms of ethanol in vivo. In addition, this article reviews the current studies on the effects of flavor compounds in ABs on ethanol metabolism in the body, and gives an outlook on future research directions. It is expected to provide a theoretical basis and guidance for the development of ABs with health benefits.

Key words: flavor compounds; alcoholic beverages; Chinese Baijiu; ethanol metabolism; liver injury

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