10
Summary
Gas chromatography is a simple, sensitiveway to characterize the volatile compounds in
alcoholic beverage products.Alcohols and aldehydes in alcoholic beverages can be ana-
lyzed by packed columnGC or capillaryGC, depending on the target analytes and their
concentrations. Capillary GC provides very efficient separations, thereby resolving
closely-related compounds, but the higher capacityof packed columnGC systems some-
times makes it easier to detect trace levels of alcohols and short-chain aldehydes in the
presenceof high levels of ethanol.Ultimately, the choiceof techniquewill dependon the
needs of the analyst and the equipment available.
A Stabilwax
®
-DA capillary column is an excellent choice for analyses of acids, esters,
and other flavor components in alcoholic beverage products. This highly stable column
has been optimized for analyses of acidic compounds, making it possible to analyze a
wide range of compounds. Large volume injection (LVI) techniques accomodate awide
range of concentrations in a single run. As shown in this guide, analytes at higher con-
centrations, such as alcohols and esters, and trace level flavor compounds can be ana-
lyzed simultaneously. The venting step during the large volume injection can be opti-
mized to removemost of the ethanol/watermatrix.
Low levels of reactive sulfur compounds inmaltedbeverages also canbemonitored reli-
ablybygas chromatography. The combinationof anRt-XLSulfur
™
micropacked column
and a Sulfinert
™
deactivated sample introduction system provides a state-of-the-art,
robust, samplingandanalysis approach formonitoring trace levelsof volatile sulfur com-
pounds in beer. This system also can be used to detect sulfur compounds in carbon diox-
ide used for artificial carbonation of carbonated beverages, such as sodawaters and soft
drinks. For information about this application, and example chromatograms, visit the fol-
lowing page on our website:
References
1.
AOACOfficialMethods of Analysis (2000)
, 17th edition,AOAC International.
2. Deman,
Principles of FoodChemistry
(1990), 2nd edition,VanNostrandReinhold, NewYork.
Foods Flavors
Fragrancesminicatalog
Preservatives by HPLC
Flavor Volatiles in
Alcoholic Beverages
Genuine Restek
Replacement Parts
Lit. Cat. #59579
Lit. Cat. #59398
Lit. Cat. #59627C
Lit. Cat. #59260
Additional Restek Literature
