Angewandte Wissenschaft » Originalarbeiten exklusiv für Sie vorgestellt 109. Jahrgang März 2013 Behr’s Verlag l Hamburg l ZKZ 9982 DEUTSCHE LEBENSMITTEL-RUNDSCHAU 10 1 1 Chemical composition of whiskies produced in Brazil compared to international products Summary Alcoholic strength, volatile acidity, acetaldehyde, methanol, ethyl ace- tate, higher alcohols (n-propanol, isobutanol, and amyl alcohols), ethyl carbamate, and copper were investigated in 7 brands of blended whiskies produced and bottled in Brazil (BWB) from a wide range of pri- ces, and two brands of blended Scotch whiskies bottled in Brazil (SWB) were investigated for comparison. All brands complied with limits estab- lished by Brazilian regulations. The cheapest BWB brand was the most analytically diverse and the only one containing ethyl carbamate above the quantification limit, at 0.09 mg/L. When compared to SWB as well as Scotch, Bourbon, Irish or Canadian whiskies, BWB showed much lower concentrations of methanol, ethyl acetate, n-propanol, and isobutanol. The use of highly rectified ethyl alcohol in the blending process is the most likely explanation for the BWB results. Zusammenfassung Alkoholgehalt, flüchtige Säure, Acetaldehyd, Methanol, Ethylacetat, hö- here Alkohole (n-Propanol, Isobutanol, und Amylalkohole), Ethylcarb- amat, und Kupfer wurden in 7 Sorten von in Brasilien hergestelltem und abgefülltem „Blended Whisky“ bestimmt, die eine breite Preisspanne umfassen. Zum Vergleich wurden zudem zwei Sorten von in Brasilien abgefülltem „Blended Scotch Whisky“ analysiert. Alle Produkte ent- sprachen den rechtlichen Anforderungen in Brasilien. Interessanter- weise hatte das Produkt mit dem niedrigsten Preis die am weitesten abweichende Zusammensetzung und enthielt als einziges Produkt auch Ethylcarbamat mit einem Gehalt von 0,09 mg/L. In Brasilien hergestell- ter Whisky hatte, verglichen mit Scotch, Bourbon, Irish und Canadian Whisky, deutlich geringere Gehalte an Methanol, Ethylacetat, n-Propanol und Isobutanol. Ein auf dem internationalen Markt nicht üblicher Ver- schnitt mit Neutralalkohol kann diese Ergebnisse erklären. For Table 1 please take a look online: www.dlr-online.de → DLR Plus Password: Zentrifugationssäulen Introduction According to data from a large population survey, whisky is the third most consumed spirit in Brazil [1]. Further- more, whisky was the second largest segment of the spirit market in Brazil in 2010, with sales revenues of US$1.8 bil- lion [2]. Since in volume terms 65% of the top 9 selling whisky brands in Brazil are produced and/or bottled in the country [3], often referred to as “national” whiskies, they have a large share of this market. The most relevant type of “national” whisky in Brazil is the blended whisky. According to Brazilian regulations [4,5], blended whisky is a spirit drink bottled between 38 % and 54 % alcohol by volume at 20 °C (%vol). The basic ingredient (min. 30 %) is a spirit (min. 54 %vol; max. 95 %vol) matured for at least two years in oak casks (not exceeding 700 litres capacity) and obtained from the distillation of a malted barley mash (malt whisky). It may then be blended with aged or non-aged potable ethyl alco- hol of agricultural origin (min. 95 %vol), aged or non- aged spirit of cereal origin (min. 54 %vol; max. 95 %vol), water (for alcoholic strength correction), and plain cara- mel (for colour correction). The previous definition implies that blended whiskies pro- duced and bottled in Brazil (BWB) are in principle not qualified as whisky under EU regulation [6] for three basic reasons: (1) use of alcohol that has not been fermented from cereals; (2) use of alcohol that has not been subjected Ian C. C. Nóbrega 1# , Sonia P. A. Oliveira 1 , Yulia B. Monakhova 3 , Elainy V. S. Pereira 1 , Adelia C. P. Araújo 2 , Danuza L. Telles 2 , Marileide Silva 2 , Vera L. A. G. Lima 1 and Dirk W. Lachenmeier 3 1 Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciência e Tecnologia de Alimentos, CEP 52.171-900, Recife, PE/Brazil 2 Laboratório de Agrotóxicos e Contaminantes em Alimentos e Bebidas Alcoólicas (LabTox), Instituto de Tecnologia de Pernambuco (ITEP), CEP 50.740-540, Recife, PE/Brazil 3 Chemisches und Veterinäruntersuchungsamt (CVUA) Karlsruhe, Weissenburger Straße 3, 76187 Karlsruhe/Germany # Correspondent: Dr. Ian C. C. Nóbrega, Fax: +558133206260; ian@dtr.ufrpe.br