FT-RAMAN methodology for the monitoring of honeys' spirit distillation process

Abstract

Honey spirit is an alcoholic beverage produced by fermentation followed by distillation of the honey must, which has distinct organoleptic characteristics derived mostly from the raw material used. In order to accurately monitor the quality of the product throughout the distillation process (head, heart and tail stages), FT-RAMAN spectroscopy was applied. Dark honey, light honey and honey obtained following waxes' wash was used to produce honey spirit. The pH, alcoholic strength, methanol content, acetaldehyde content, ethyl acetate content and higher alcohols content were evaluated during the distillation process. The FT-RAMAN technique was used to obtain spectral information for all fractions collected during beverage production. The results suggest that the honey spirit had good quality concerning the volatile composition and methanol was not detected in any sample. FT-RAMAN is promising for the online monitoring of the distillation process in order to improve the final quality of this beverage.

Development of a Spirit Drink Produced with Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo L.) Fruit and Honey

“…The lowest levels found in honey spirit (3.23 g/hL P.A. and 29.74 g/hL P.A., respectively) are in line with those observed by Anjos et al [19,25] in some artisanal spirits. Such feature is likely due to the water added to honey before fermentation, which may hinder oxidation and esterification reactions, as argued by Caldeira et al [7] in a study on strawberry tree fruit fermentation with and without water.…”

“…The spirit drinks made from the strawberry tree fruit also had alcohol strength higher than the minimum of 42% required by the Portuguese regulation for arbutus spirit [31]. Moreover, the results are in accordance with those previously obtained by Caldeira et al [7] for arbutus spirit and by Anjos et al [19,25] for honey spirit.…”

“…Honey is a healthy product mainly composed of sugars (mono-, di-, and trisaccharides) [13] and several other substances such as proteins, lipids, vitamins, minerals, and phenolic compounds [14,15]. It has been used for centuries not only as food but also as a food ingredient [16] in beverages [17][18][19] and for medical and cosmetic purposes [20]. Honey spirit is produced by distillation of fermented honey.…”

“…The most abundant volatile compounds in honey spirit are saturated alcohols, ethyl esters of saturated fatty acids, and terpenes [24]. The low methanol content, residual in most of these spirits, should be highlighted [19,25]. Regarding the sensory features, Anjos et al [25] reported, for the first time, a list of 98 attributes, the most prominent of which were olfactory attributes (fruity, floral, sweet and vegetative/herbaceous) and flavor attributes (smoky, sweet, and bitter).…”

Screening of Different Ageing Technologies of Wine Spirit by Application of Near-Infrared (NIR) Spectroscopy and Volatile Quantification

“…The studies on major volatile compounds and NIR are scarce, however, using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy with attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR), accurate calibration models for these compounds, in similar regions to the calibration models for ethanol and methanol, were performed [47]. Moreover, another study used the same region of ethanol absorption to find a good discrimination between honey spirit samples, using Raman methodology [48].…”