The present study has clearly demonstrated the significant differences in aroma profile and sensory perception between HLFSS and LSFSS. Thirty-seven and 33 different odorant have been found in the GC-O profiles for HLFSS and LSFSS, respectively. HLFSS exhibited a more complex volatile composition than LSFSS. According to the sensory evaluation, HLFSS presented a higher intensity for alcohols, cooked potato-like and caramel-like notes, while LSFSS showed a higher intensity for sour and burnt notes. Results from AEDA experiments showed that phenylacetaldehyde, ethanol, 3-methyl-1-butanol, 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol, 3-(methylthio)
propanal and 2-methoxy4-vinylphenol were the most intense aroma-active compounds in HLFSS, while phenylacetaldehyde, 3-methylbutanal, and ethyl propanoate were the key odorants in LSFSS. This research is part of our continuous efforts to improve soy sauce flavour quality by optimising the manufacturing process.On the basis of results obtained from this study, further work on conducting aroma recombination experiments and omission tests are in progress to verify the obtained results and to characterise the fingerprint of volatile aroma constituents of Chinese soy sauces.