Improvement of volatile aromatic compound levels and sensory quality of distilled derived from and co-fermentation.

Distilled , a Korean traditional alcoholic beverage, is produced by fermenting rice with a variety of microorganisms including molds, yeasts, and lactic acid-producing bacteria, followed by distillation. Our study sought to improve the quality of distilled through co-fermentation with and , known for producing volatile aromatic compounds during the early stages of fermentation. Analysis of volatile aromatic compounds in co-fermented distilled revealed a substantial increase in compounds with boiling points below 200 °C. Among them, ethyl hexanoate, isobutanol, and isoamyl alcohol were identified as the major volatile aromatic compounds based on Log2 fold change analyses of the volatile aromatic compound pattern. In sensory evaluation, co-fermented distilled received higher scores in terms of odor and overall preference. Therefore, incorporating may improve the quality of distilled .