Olfactory perception, odor interaction and aroma intensity prediction of terpenes in wine beverage.

Abstract

Terpenes are primary contributors for the floral/fruity aromas in wine, thus the study of their perceptual interaction and the establishment of the odor intensity (OI) prediction method for their mixture may contribute to modulate floral/fruity aromas of wine via concentration adjustment. We determined odor thresholds (OTs) of 28 terpenes across three matrices, revealing a wide range (2.7 μg/L to 4.0 mg/L) with OTs following the order: red wine > white wine > model wine. Linear terpenes exhibited floral/fruity notes and lower OTs, while cyclic terpenes displayed herbal/woody notes. Perceptual interaction analysis of 105 binary mixtures showed 35% synergistic, 50% enhancement, and 13% inhibition effects, with stronger synergies in ternary mixtures. A unified OI-lnOAV relationship was established. Among three models tested, the modified vectorial model most accurately predicted odor intensity for both binary and multicomponent mixtures. These findings provide theoretical support for precise aroma modulation in terpene-based wine blending.