3 Taste and sensory evaluation of mead
3.1 Flavor of Mead
The flavour substances in mead come mainly from the honey itself, the yeast and the flavour substances produced during the fermentation and ageing process. The taste of honey is very important for sensory quality. The flavor of honey is very complex. The composition of honey varies depending on the source and origin of the nectar. Not all components of honey affect the aroma, but only when the concentration of the substance exceeds the olfactory threshold. The sensory characteristics of honey include flowers, fruits, wood, citrus, fermented, sour, spicy, herbs, waxes, fats, and pastes.
Some researchers have found that some volatile substances contribute to the sensory characteristics of honey from a single honey source. For example, citrus honey has an aroma of fresh fruit and lemon, with high levels of linalool derivatives. Eucalyptus honey has a hay and dry herb aroma and contains mainly hydroxyketone and p-cyanoene derivatives. Studies have shown that the aroma and composition of different chestnut honeys are different. Chestnuts produced in northeastern Spain have herbal, woody and spicy aromas and contain mainly aldehydes, alcohols, lactones and volatile phenols. Chestnut honey produced in northwestern Spain has a floral and fruity aroma with a higher content of terpenes, esters and benzene derivatives.
During the alcoholic fermentation process, the compounds produced by yeast contribute significantly to the flavour of a range of meads through metabolism. The results showed that yeast type, inoculum, fermentation conditions, honey composition and additive had an effect on the flavor substances produced during fermentation. The main volatile compounds produced by yeast included alcohols, organic acids, esters, unstable fatty acids, carbonyl compounds and volatile phenols.
3.2 Sensory evaluation of mead
At present, there are two main methods of evaluating food quality. One is the qualitative and quantitative analysis of aroma components in food, and the other is based on the sensory evaluation of human food quality. The former is an objective analysis method, while the latter is a more subjective judgment. Currently, there are many reports on the qualitative and quantitative analysis of mead aroma components, but there are few studies on the sensory quality of mead.
Astragalus honey and buckwheat honey were used as raw materials for the development of mead, and sensory tests were conducted. The results showed that the mead made with astragalus honey had a good flavor, while the mead made with buckwheat honey failed. 9 food experts conducted sensory evaluations of fresh and aged mead. The results showed that the color and taste of the mead were better, and that the characteristic bitter aftertaste had both positive and negative effects on flavor.
The study compared the taste of several types of mead made from honey. The results showed that the highest sensory scores were obtained by specially trained evaluators for mead made from chestnut honey, and that the sweetness of the residual sugar in the mead masked the bitterness of the chestnut honey. It is important to establish the relationship between the aroma components and sensory characteristics of mead for sensory evaluation of mead.
4 Health benefits of mead
The health effects of mead are mainly derived from the raw honey, other auxiliary ingredients such as vegetable juices and herbs, and some functional components produced by yeast metabolism during the fermentation process. At present, there are few studies on the health effects of mead. Zhai Wenjun examined the nutritional composition of mead and compared it with honey and mead. The results showed that mead not only retained the nutrients in honey, but also increased the content of amino acids, vitamins and minerals, which may be caused by the autolysis of yeast during the fermentation process.
