## 4 Discussion  
The global market for specialty vinegars, which include balsamic, sherry, and red wine vinegar, is growing significantly [29]. Flavoring white wine vinegar (WWV) with aromatic plants can raise its market value and increase consumption. In comparison to red wine vinegar, WWV has lower polyphenic content [30], and an increase in the polyphenic content could be obtained by adding aromatic plants. In this study, we found that flavored WWVs had a higher polyphenic content than the unflavored WWV. Numerous studies have detected polyphenols as bioactive compounds that have a beneficial effect on human health. [PERSON] and [PERSON] [31] suggest that, among polyphenols, flavonoids have antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activities. In our study, WWVs flavored with rosemary and thyme had higher concentrations of flavones, while elderflower-flavored WWVs had a higher concentration of flavonoids. Except polyphenols, other compounds, like \(p\)-cymene, have pharmacological properties [32], and this aromatic compound was significantly higher in the WWVs flavored with thyme than in unflavored WWV. Our results showed that each of the investigated plant species used for aromatization in this research contributed to the specific vinegar odor, aromatic, and polyphenic profiles. The major aromatic groups in the WWV were esters, and ethyl hexanoate was the main volatile compound in the unflavored WWV. In the flavored WWVs, terpen were compounds that mainly contributed to the volatile profile and showed significant differences in content between the treatments. The most abundant terpenes in the WWVs flavored with rosemary were camphor, endo-borneol, and eucalypt, such as those found by [PERSON] et al. [6] in the research of commercial aromatized vinegars. Of the sixteen analyzed terpen, the values of ten of them (camphor, \(\alpha\)-terpineol, endo-borneol, fenchol, isoterpinolene, \(\gamma\)-terpine, eucalypt, terpinen-4-ol, 2-carene, and D-carvone) were highest in the WWVs aromatized with rosemary. Camphor, \(\alpha\)-terpineol, and eucalypt in the rosemary extracts were found by [PERSON] et al. [21] and [PERSON] et al. [33], but the different composition of the volatile compounds compared to our results may be related to the rosemary chemotype [21] and growing conditions [34]. The main terpen in the WWVs flavored with thyme were \(p\)-thymol and \(p\)-cymene, and the same volatiles were also found by [PERSON] et al. [35] in French chemotypes of thyme, while [PERSON] and [PERSON] [36] found \(\beta\)-myrrene and thymol to be the main volatile compounds in the thyme essential oil. WWVs flavored with elderflower had the significantly highest values of the terpen hotrienol, linalool oxide, and \(\beta\)-ocimene, and other volatile compounds like anisole and benzeneacetaldehyde. [PERSON] et al. [37] detected hotrienol as a terpene that contributes to the characteristic elderflower odor, while linalool and \(\beta\)-ocimene contribute floral notes to the vinegar. The floral and fruity notes were the most expressed in the WWVs flavored with elderflower in this research. [PERSON] et al. [24] detected the highest hotrienol and linalool concentrations in the elderflower, which is in accordance with the results for these volatile compounds in the WWVs flavored with elderflowers in our study. Each plant species gave its own specific sensory characteristics to the flavored WWVs. Herbal and pine notes were noticeable in rosemary. Volatiles \(\alpha\)-terpineol and endo-borneol contribute to the pine notes, camphor camphoruous, and eucalypt herbal and eucalyptus notes [21]. The main volatile in thyme was \(p\)-thymol, which is a carrier of the spicy and herbal notes, while hotrienol and anisol were responsible for the floral and fruity notes in elderflower. In all aromatized WWVs, there was a notable reduction in pungent smell intensity. This decrease is likely due to the enhanced aromatic profile of the flavored WWVs, resulting in a more favorable overall impression compared to the control vinegar.