Distribution of the principal minor volatiles during cider destillation in "alquitara"

A study of minor volatiles from 12 fractions collected during distillation of cider in ‘alquitara’ was carried out. Compounds favouring spirit quality are found in the first half of the distillate. Some compounds imparting aromatic defects could be eliminated by removing a percentage of heads during distillation. In contrast, when distilling ciders without defects, removing heads would not be justified, as their incorporation in the final distillate should lead to obtaining spirits with higher aromatic riches. Tails, however, which are mainly constituted by unpleasant aromas, must be rigorously removed to avoid incorporating compounds that could reduce the quality of the final product

Influence of Distillation System, Oak Wood Type, and Aging Time on Composition of Cider Brandy in Phenolic and Furanic Compounds

A control of phenolic and furanic compounds in cider brandy was carried out during maturation in oak casks, studying three technological factors: distillation (rectification column vs double distillation), oak wood type (French vs American), and aging time (32 months). Gallic acid and benzoic and cinnamic aldehydes significantly increased during maturation of cider brandies, the highest level of these phenolics being obtained when aging was conducted in French oak casks. Benzoic acids increased during aging, though furanic compounds were not influenced by the time factor. Distillation and wood factors significantly influenced furanic concentration; 5-hydroxymethylfurfural not was detected in fresh spirits and was extracted in the highest proportion in French oak. Volatile furanics, such as 5-methylfurfural, furfural, and 2-furylmethyl ketone, were influenced by the distillation factor, with the use of the double distillation system producing a higher level of these compounds. Scopoletin was the majority coumarin detected in cider brandies, the highest yield of which was obtained with the use of American oak

Solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatographic determination of polyphenols in apple musts and ciders

An improved analytical method was developed for the determination of polyphenols in the apple products must and cider. Phenolic compounds were fractionated into neutral and acidic groups by means of a solid-phase extraction method. The analytical method proposed was effective for the quantitation of phenolic compounds; recoveries between 84% and 111% were obtained, and the relative standard deviation was usually less than 5%

Characterisation of apple cider cultivars by chemometric techniques using data from high-performance liquid chromatography and flow-injection analysis

Analytical techniques (HPLC and flow-injection analysis) for determining sugars, organic acids, polyphenols and pectins in apples, were employed along with chemometrics in the ripening and classification studies of cider apples. The use of principal component analysis allowed the authors to reduce the dimensionality of the data matrix; three new variables were obtained that accounted for 76% of variance. The projection of the apple cultivars in the reduced space allowed us to visualize the data structure on the basis of the degree of ripening and technological characteristics of the cider apple varieties monitored. Linear discriminant analysis computed a canonical variable with a prediction capacity of 93%, using three groups for cancellation in order to validate the method. The use of modelling techniques, such as SIMCA and partial least squares made an adequate grouping of apple cultivars feasible on the basis of their degree of ripening