Effect of Koji on Flavor Compounds and Sensory Characteristics of Rice Shochu

is an important starter for rice brewing and influences the rice quality. Consequently, we studied the impacts of on the flavor compounds and sensory characteristics of rice using molds SICC 3.917 (A-K), SICC 3.79(A-O), CICC 2372 (A-N), CICC 40260 (R-O), and the traditional starter Qu (control). The effects of on the aroma components, free amino acids (FAAs), and overall sensory aspects of rice were studied. These findings indicated that significantly affected the rice 's quality. The content of total FAAs in rice A-K (30.586 ± 0.944 mg/L) and A-O (29.919 ± 0.278 mg/L) was higher than others. The content of flavor compounds revealed that the aroma of rice with various varied greatly from the smells of alcohols and esters. A-O had a higher concentration of aroma compounds and it exhibited a strong aroma and harmonious taste compared with the others. This research using taste compounds, FAAs, flavor intensity, and partial least squares regression (PLSR) showed that A-O appeared to possess the best sensory qualities, with elevated concentrations of alcohols and sweet FAAs and lesser concentrations of sour FAAs. Therefore, the A-O mold is promising for the manufacture of rice with excellent flavor and sensory characteristics.