In the present study, sufu, a soft cheese-like oriental fermented food, was prepared by ripening the salted-tofu cubes in Aspergillus oryzae-fermented soybean-rice koji at 37 degrees C for 16 days (16-day sufu). Sufu was further held at room temperature for another 30 days (46-day sufu). The volatile components of the non-fermented tofu cubes and the sufu products were identified and quantified by GC and GC-MS. A total of 70 volatile compounds including 20 aldehydes, 18 alcohols, 16 esters, 5 ketones, 5 acids and 6 other compounds were identified. Sufu products contained more volatile compounds than non-fermented tofu cubes qualitatively and quantitatively. After 16-days of ripening, fatty acid, aldehyde and ester were noted to be the dominant volatile fractions. In contrast, the 46-day sufu contained ester, and alcohol as the major volatile fractions. They comprise approximately 63.9% of the total volatile components. (C) 2011, The Society for Biotechnology, japan. All rights reserved.