Abstract: The major volatile aroma compounds of Qingke Baijiu stored for different durations were characterized by direct injection (DI) or liquid-liquid microextraction (LLME) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Our experiment confirmed that addition of anhydrous sodium sulfate to the Baijiu sample before being injected into the GC-MS system did not cause losses of volatile aroma components. The contents of total esters and total alcohols as well as of ethyl acetate and ethyl lactate decreased gradually while the content of total acids increased gradually with the increase in storage duration. The content of acetic acid decreased most after one month, and then it increased gradually with the increase in storage duration. The content of acetic acid reached its maximum after 11 months. The contents of ethyl pentanoate and 4-ethylphenol reached their maximum after two months. The contents of benzaldehyde, acetoin, and furfural reached their maximum after nine months. The results of this study are expected to provide scientific data and theoretical support for the aging of Qingke Baijiu.

Key words: Qingke Baijiu; direct injection; storage; aging; volatile aroma compounds