Decoding the medicinal aromatic characteristic of Zhuyeqing and gaining new insight into sotolon

<i>Zhuyeqing</i> is made from <i>Fenjiu</i> base liquor infused with extracts from 12 Chinese herbs. Its medicinal aroma is a unique feature of <i>Zhuyeqing.</i> However, this particular characteristic has not yet been thoroughly studied. Utilizing a normal phase liquid chromatography-sensomics-integrated strategy, we sequentially identified 110 potential odorants in the fraction with characteristic medicinal aroma via GC × GC-TOF MS, then these compounds were narrowed down to 25 sensorially active compounds through GC-O validation. Quantitative analysis identified 10 odorants with odor activity values (OAVs) ≥ 1. Omission experiments indicated that eugenol, sotolon, <i>trans</i>-isoeugenol, guaiacol, anisaldehyde, and acetoin were the key aroma compounds affecting the medicinal characteristic. Innovatively, we revealed the enantioselective distribution patterns of sotolon in <i>Zhuyeqing</i> and elucidated its dynamic evolution correlated with medicinal aroma attenuation. This study establishes the first molecular-level scientific framework for quality modulation of <i>Zhuyeqing</i>, bridging theoretical insights with practical applications.