Chemical profile of cachaça aged in barrels of different Brazilian woods

• Grant number: 12/03133-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2012
• End date: April 30, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology - Food Technology
• Principal Investigator: André Ricardo Alcarde
• Grantee: Lethicia Suzigan Corniani
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Rum from sugar cane is a drink of great economic and social importance for Brazil. The aging of this beverage in wooden barrels is an essential step to improving its chemical and sensory qualities. In Brazil, a wide range of species of native wood is studied for the replacement of oak, as they demand a lower initial cost for the producer of rum and enable modulation of the final product according to the species adopted. It is also possible to use blends of two or more species by increasing the aromatic complexity of the beverage. The objective of this work is to study the profile of chemical compounds derived from the maturation of cachaça, stored for 3 years in barrels of different woods: Peanut, Jequitibá, Araruva, Cabramatta, Jequitibá Rose, Cherry, Pear, and Grápia, Ipe-purple. The cachaça rates of alcohol and phenolic compounds, color, and volatile acidity will be determined by laboratory analysis. Liquid chromatography (HPLC) is used for the identification and quantification of compounds characteristic of aging, such as gallic, vanillic, and syringic acids, syringaldehyde, coniferaldehyde, sinapaldeído, vanillin, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, and furfural. We hope that the chemical profile of cachaça from the aging in barrels of different woods will highlight the presence of species-specific compounds and that we can develop blends, in agreement with the analysis results.(AU)