Insights on the role of acetaldehyde and other aldehydes in the odour and tactile nasal perception of red wine

•Low acetaldehyde levels enhance red fruit and fresh notes and can suppress off-odours.•High acetaldehyde levels can induce a green vegetable note and an itching character.•The effect of high acetaldehyde levels is more important in aldehyde-rich contexts.•The burning note elicited by isoamyl alcohol is strongly affected by acetaldehyde.•There is a negative perceptual interaction between acetaldehyde and methoxypyrazines. Wine models with or without a dearomatised and lyophilized red wine extract containing a young red aroma base (control) plus one vector with one or several aroma compounds (unsaturated-aldehydes, saturated-aldehydes, benzaldehyde, isoamyl-alcohol, methoxypyrazines and (Z)-1,5-octadien-3-one) were prepared. Models were spiked with increasing amounts of acetaldehyde whose headspace concentrations were controlled. Odour and nasal chemesthesic properties were assessed by a trained sensory panel. Results confirm the contribution of the different players, notably isoamyl-alcohol, (Z)-1,5-octadien-3-one, benzaldehyde and methoxypyrazines, to wine aroma and tactile nasal characteristics and demonstrate that acetaldehyde levels play an outstanding role in their modulation. At low levels, it can play positive roles in some specific aromatic contexts, while at higher levels, enhance the negative effects associated to the generic presence of other aldehydes (saturated, unsaturated and Strecker aldehydes) by enhancing “green vegetable” notes and “itching” character and the “burning” effects linked to high levels of isoamyl alcohol.