Comparison study of the total sugar, amino acids, Maillard reaction products and volatile compounds of Huangjiu from Shaoxing and Daixian in China

Abstract BACKGROUND The Huangjiu (Chinese rice wine) is one of the most culturally important alcoholic beverages in China, with the varieties from Southern Shaoxing and Northern Daizhou being particularly renowned. The raw materials and production processes of Huangjiu from these two regions differ substantially, resulting in distinct nutritional, safety and flavor characteristics. This study systematically compared total sugar content, amino acid composition, Maillard reaction products and flavor compounds in five Huangjiu samples from Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, and Daixian, Shanxi Province. RESULTS The total sugar content in Daixian Huangjiu ranged from 66.1 ± 4.2 to 84.6 ± 1.3 g L –1 , which was significantly higher than that of Shaoxing Huangjiu (32.1 ± 0.4 to 42.1 ± 0.9 g L –1 ). The free amino acid amount of Daixian Huangjiu ranged from 1.271 to 1.605 mg mL –1 , which was lower than that of Shaoxing Huangjiu (1.454–2.200 mg mL –1 ). The essential amino acid content was higher in Daixian Huangjiu than in Shaoxing Huangjiu (0.495–0.603 versus 0.247–0.405 mg mL –1 ). Maillard reaction products were significantly higher in Daixian Huangjiu than in Shaoxing Huangjiu, with representative compounds including 5‐hydroxymethylfurfural, dicarbonyl compounds, carboxymethyllysine and carboxyethyllysine. In total, 57 volatile compounds were identified from Huangjiu using gas chromatography‐ion mobility spectrometry (GC‐IMS). Principal component analysis revealed that the volatile profiles of Huangjiu from different origins possessed significant differences. CONCLUSION Daixian Huangjiu contained higher total sugar, essential amino acid and Maillard reaction products content than that of Shaoxing. GC‐IMS has shown strong potential in identifying the origin and vintage of Huangjiu by increasing the sample size in the future. © 2026 Society of Chemical Industry.