GC-FID and GC-MS as a tool to screen the influence of wood ageing technologies in the brandies odourless and odourant compounds

The maturation of wine brandies in wooden barrels cause many sensory and physicochemical changes in these alcoholic beverages, namely its flavour modification. Previous work (Caldeira et al. 2008) pointed out the most potent odourant compounds of the wine aged brandies. Some of these compounds proceed from the distillate and others are extracted from the wood. In this study it was quantified, some odourless compounds, such as methanol and higher alcohols and several odorant compounds in brandies aged in presence of two types of wood fragments (staves and tablets), from two different kinds of woods (Limousin oak wood and Portuguese chestnut wood), and compared with those found in the same with brandy aged in wooden barrels. A taster panel have also profiled these brandies and evaluated their overall quality. The methanol and higher alcohols were quantified by GC-FID equipped with a fused silica capillary column of polyethylene glycol according to the official method [NP 3263, 1990]. The odorant compounds were quantified by GC-FID and identified by GC-MS. The results showed that the ageing system is the most discriminant factor, having a significant effect on the level of several odourant compounds. The wood botanical species affected few odourant compounds. The importance of odorant compounds was also demonstrated by the high linear correlations between their contents and the intensity of several sensory attributes. The results show the possibility of using the chromatographic results as a tool to discriminate brandies produced with different ageing technologies

Sensory and chemical modifications of wine brandy aged with chestnut and oak wood

This work evaluated the sensorial and chemical modifications in brandy aged in presence of two types of wood fragments in comparison with a brandy aged in wooden barrels

A sensory and chemical approach to the aroma of wooden aged Lourinhã wine brandy

The maturation of wine brandies in wooden barrels origin many sensory and physical-chemical changes in these alcoholic beverages. This work studies the odorants in different aged brandies from Lourinhã. These brandies were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to olfactometry (CG-O). A panel taster profiled these brandies and the identified odorants were also quantified by gas chromatography coupled to a flame ionization detector (CG-FID). The CG-O results showed 29 identified odorants (alcohols, esters, acids and phenols. Some of them are proceeding from the distillate while others are extracted from the wood. The analysis of the correlation between the sensory profiles and the odorant quantification pointed out the relevance of several wood compounds for the brandy aroma, namely the vanillin, volatile phenols and furanic aldehydes. These compounds presented important correlations with several olfactory attributes like vanilla, toasted dried fruits, woody, which influence positively the quality of the brandies

Effect of heat treatment on the thermal and chemical modifications of oak and chestnut wood used in brandy ageing

The effects of temperature and frequency of moistening during the first phase of the heath treatment (bending phase) on the simultaneous response of different kinds of wood (Portuguese chestnut, Rumanian and American oak wood) used in brandy ageing were studied. The evolution of the wood temperature was measured by K thermocouple probes. The wood extractable compounds (phenolic acids, phenolic aldehydes, coumarins and furanic derivatives) were analyzed by HPLC. The results showed that the thermal distribution along the thickness of the stave is influenced by the temperature and frequency of moistening, and also, by the botanical species. It was verified that the bending phase is of great importance for the barrel quality not only for this impact on the physical and mechanical properties of the wood but also for its effect on the wood chemical composition

Highly-parallelized simulation of a pixelated LArTPC on a GPU

The rapid development of general-purpose computing on graphics processing units (GPGPU) is allowing the implementation of highly-parallelized Monte Carlo simulation chains for particle physics experiments. This technique is particularly suitable for the simulation of a pixelated charge readout for time projection chambers, given the large number of channels that this technology employs. Here we present the first implementation of a full microphysical simulator of a liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) equipped with light readout and pixelated charge readout, developed for the DUNE Near Detector. The software is implemented with an end-to-end set of GPU-optimized algorithms. The algorithms have been written in Python and translated into CUDA kernels using Numba, a just-in-time compiler for a subset of Python and NumPy instructions. The GPU implementation achieves a speed up of four orders of magnitude compared with the equivalent CPU version. The simulation of the current induced on 10^3 pixels takes around 1 ms on the GPU, compared with approximately 10 s on the CPU. The results of the simulation are compared against data from a pixel-readout LArTPC prototype

Identification de substances extraites du bois neuf de chêne du Limousin par des eaux-de-vie de vin

L'étude des substances extraites du bois, dans les eaux-de-vie de vin élaborées au C.N.E.V. et logées pendant six mois en fûts de bois de chêne « Limousin », permet l'identification, par chromatographie sur papier, de deux acides libres (acide ellagique et acide gallique), de cinq sucres (arabinose, glucose, xylose, rhamnose et fucose) et de la vanilline

Perfil sensorial de aguardentes vínicas envelhecidas em madeira de castanheiro: sistema tradicional versus sistema alternativo

As modificações sensoriais verificadas durante o envelhecimento das aguardentes vínicas são influenciadas pelo tipo de madeira (espécie botânica e origem geográfica) e pelo tratamento térmico das vasilhas. Os trabalhos realizados ao longo de vários anos demonstraram as interessantes características sensoriais das aguardentes envelhecidas em vasilhas de madeira de castanheiro, sobretudo com queima média e queima forte. Neste trabalho pretendeu-se comparar, partindo da mesma aguardente vínica inicial, o perfil sensorial de aguardentes envelhecidas em vasilhas de madeira de castanheiro (sistema tradicional) com aguardentes envelhecidas em depósitos de inox com aduelas de madeira da mesma espécie (sistema alternativo). Para o efeito avaliaram-se os resultados da análise sensorial descritiva quantificada, realizada por um painel treinado utilizando uma ficha de prova previamente desenvolvida para o efeito.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Sensory and chemical modifications of wine-brandy aged with chestnut and oak wood fragments in comparison to wooden barrels

DOI:10.1016/j.aca.2009.10.059Wooden barrels are used in the ageing or maturation of many alcoholic beverages, namely brandies and wines. However, the high costs related to ageing in wooden barrels have led to a search for alternative technologies. In this study we examined the application of wood fragments to the beverage in order to promote an accelerated ageing. We evaluated the sensory and chemical modifications in brandy aged in presence of two types of wood fragments, from two different woods (Limousin oak wood and Portuguese chestnut wood), and compared those with a brandy aged in wooden barrels. The results of the analysis of variance revealed more significant effects of wood botanical species than the ageing system on the sensory attributes. Concerning the ageing system, significant differences in brandy colour attributes were found, namely golden, topaz and greenish; olfactory attributes such as alcoholic, toasted and coffee; and the gustatory attribute, bitter. The brandies aged in the presence of wood tablets presented the highest intensities of topaz and greenish colour, toasted and coffee odours, while the brandies aged in wooden barrels presented the highest intensities of golden colour, alcohol odour and bitter taste. However, the overall quality of the brandies was similar. The analysis of odourant compounds showed a great discrimination of the brandies based on the ageing system. The brandies aged in wooden barrels presented the highest levels of several ethyl esters, acids, furanic aldehydes and the lowest levels of volatile phenols. Thus, considering the overall quality of the brandies, these results suggest the use of wood fragments to be an interesting alternative technology. On the other hand, the chemical analysis of the brandies showed the possibility of discriminating the ageing technologies based on odourant compound levels

Effect of innovative technology using staves and micro-oxygenation on the odorant and sensory profile of aged wine spirit

The aged wine spirit is a beverage with great aromatic complexity. Their volatile compounds with odorant power coming from the distillate and from the wood used in its ageing, and the interactions that take place in the process, enhanced by oxygen, all contribute to this complexity. Due to time and cost inherent of ageing wine spirits in wooden barrels, research has sought to develop more sustainable alternatives to do it. In this context, the present study compares, the effect of traditional (wooden barrel) and alternative system (stainless steel tank with dipped staves and micro-oxygenation), on the odorant and sensory profile of a wine spirit, using Limousin oak and chestnut wood, after 12 months of ageing. The results suggest that the ageing process is accelerated by the alternative ageing technology and the chestnut wood, and the corresponding wine spirits presented characteristics of greater sensory evolution and strong wood compounds extraction.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio