Abstract:Nitroge-containing compounds account for a low content in soy sauce flavor-type Baijiu, but some compounds have lower thresholds contribute significantly to the flavor of the Baijiu. In this study, 20 soy sauce flavor-type Baijiu, with origins including Guizhou, Guangxi, Hu'nan, Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong, and Heilongjiang, were qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed for volatile nitroge-containing compounds by liquid-liquid extraction combined with a comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-nitroge chemiluminescence detector (GC×GC-NCD). A total of 49 volatile nitroge-containing compounds were identified, including 16 pyrazines, 12 thiazoles, 4 pyridines, 6 pyrroles, 2 amines, and 9 other compounds. The kinds of volatile nitroge-containing compounds did not significantly vary among soy sauce flavor-type Baijiu from different origins. Quantitative analysis of volatile nitroge-containing compounds with reported aroma showed that the content of pyrazines were found to be the highest among the volatile nitroge-containing compounds. The pyrazine content in Guizhou samples was the highest (5.36±0.96)mg/L), followed by samples from northern central regions (4.12±1.20)mg/L). The content of pyrazine in Hunan samples (3.05±0.64 )mg/L) was not significantly different from that in Guangxi, while the lowest content was from Heilongjiang (1.68±0.42 )mg/L). Based on the quantitative results, orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis was established, which could successfully distinguished soy sauce-flavor Baijiu of different origins. Eleven nitroge-containing compounds, including benzothiazole, pyrazine, 2,3,5,6-tetramethylpyrazine, 2,6-dimethylpyrazine and etc., were screened out as the different components to distinguish the soy sauce flavor-type Baijiu from different regions. This research provided theoretical support for the origin discrimination and traceability of soy sauce flavor-type Baijiu in China.