RESUMEN
Cuban wine is a traditional alcoholic beverage elaborated with a wide variety of raw materials, such as native grapes, tropical fruits, and rice, and different winemaking processes. Research on Cuban wines is almost nonexistent, and therefore, a study of these wines is necessary to improve their quality. Dynamic headspace (DHS)-TD-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis was carried out to establish the different aroma fingerprints of different Cuban wines. A total of 42 volatile aroma metabolites (VAMs) were identified, including esters, alcohols, aldehydes, acids, volatile phenols, terpenes, and lactones. The odorant activity values (OAV) of each VAM were obtained, and the esters were the most relevant group due to their highest OAV. Ethyl octanoate, hexanoate, and butanoate stand out and are considered key odorants in the aromatic fingerprint. The VAMs were grouped into seven aromatic series. Fruity series showed the highest OAVs due to the contribution of ethyl esters and acetates. Principal component analysis was used to identify the specific parameters most accurately reflecting the differences between the wines. Showing that fruity, spicy, and chemical aromatic series allow distinguishing the wines into three aroma types. These results may provide useful information for the selection of raw materials and optimization of the traditional winemaking processes of Cuban wines. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: This research contributes to knowledge of the aroma and the oenological parameters of traditional and selected Cuban wines (rice wine, tropical fruit wine, and native grape varieties). The establishing of the aroma fingerprint of these wines provides useful information for the industrial development of a quality product that may then be promoted in other areas of the world.