Development of a method for the determination of alkylpyrazine in traditional vinegar and its formation kinetics

Alkylpyrazine (APZ), as one of the crucial components in food flavor, are extremely important for the sensory evaluation of foods. For the purpose of simultaneously identifying multiple APZ in food items, a HPLC analytical method was created. The chromatography was carried out on an XBridge C18 column at a flow rate of 1 mL/min, with a detection wavelength of 275 nm. The ratio of mobile phase A (acetonitrile) to mobile phase B (0.1% formic acid and 0.1% aqueous trifluoroacetic acid) was 1:99. Compared to the conventional assay, RSD of precision less than 3%, average recoveries ranged from 96% to 110%, quantification limits were between 0.052 and 0.278 mg/L, detection limits were between 0.016 and 0.084 mg/L, and total analysis time is 35 min in the HPLC method. Meanwhile, we found that prolonging the aging time could increase the flavor characteristics of vinegar by analyzing the composition of APZ in vinegar and its formation pattern during the brewing process. The above results demonstrated that HPLC is an effective method for the rapid determination of pyrazines in vinegar. This study provides a technical way for further focusing on the characteristic flavor components of vinegars or other fermentation products. •A method has been established for the simultaneous determination of 10 alkylpyrazines in vinegar.•Simultaneous detection of 10 alkylpyrazines within 35 min has been achieved.•An evaluation was conducted on 22 types of commercial vinegar.•Kinetic modeling of vinegar by high-performance liquid chromatography method.