Influence of distillation parameters on the extraction of Juniperus communis L . in vapour infused gin

Abstract

The influence of distillation parameters on the extraction of flavour compounds from the gin botanical Juniperus communis L. using vapour infusion was investigated. The optimum mix of conditions to extract the highest levels of certain compounds was established using a 3 3 -factorial design. Quantification using solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography coupled mass spectrometry, was performed measuring nine common flavour compounds. The greatest influence was the botanical ratio, whilst the least influential parameter was ethanol concentration for all compounds except terpinen-4-ol. Density functional theory calculations of quantitative structure-activity relationship properties for the flavour compounds were also undertaken to test for molecular influence on solvent extraction. The quantitative structure-activity relationship model showed the highest dipole moment for terpinen-4-ol and the lowest for γ-terpinene.

Characterization of Flavor Compounds in Distilled Spirits: Developing a Versatile Analytical Method Suitable for Micro-Distilleries

“…Terpenoids originate from thirteen botanicals and eight botanical extracts used for the production of this commercial gin, including juniper berries which is the major source of flavors in gin according to the EU regulation. Among terpenoids found in this sample, α-pinene (piney, woody), β-pinene (woody, cooling), β-myrcene (woody, rose, peach), limonene (lemon, orange, sweet), β-caryophyllene (spicy, woody) and α-humulene (balsamic, flowery, grassy) are key flavor constituents of juniper berries [ 40 ] and represent high relative peak areas of the chromatogram. Some of them are also abundant in other botanicals such as limonene which is a main constituent of citrus essential oils.…”

Key Aroma Compounds in Two Bavarian Gins

“…A comparative sensory evaluation study of six different gins that focused on the attributes juniper, citric, aniseed, licorice, and spice reported marked differences between London dry gins and gins with different geographical typicality [8]. A study investigating the influence of distillation parameters by comparing six different gins revealed that the use of a greater amount of botanicals during distillation led to higher intensity ratings of sensory descriptors [9]. In terms of their volatile chemical constituents, several studies utilized GC-MS to examine the predominant compounds, whereby monoterpenes were the most frequently identified compounds, assigned mainly to juniper and coriander oil [9][10][11][12][13].…”

“…A study investigating the influence of distillation parameters by comparing six different gins revealed that the use of a greater amount of botanicals during distillation led to higher intensity ratings of sensory descriptors [9]. In terms of their volatile chemical constituents, several studies utilized GC-MS to examine the predominant compounds, whereby monoterpenes were the most frequently identified compounds, assigned mainly to juniper and coriander oil [9][10][11][12][13]. Semi-quantitative analysis of the volatile fractions of distilled gins identified 70 volatile substances, also predominantly monoterpenes, as well as sesquiterpenes, and their oxygenated derivatives [14].…”

“…Only one study to date has reported on the latter, using GC-O analysis in combination with the detection frequency method [15], while others discussed the concentrations of some volatiles in relation to their odor thresholds (OTs), determined in aqueous or 20%vol. ethanolic solutions [9,10]. Of the odor-active substances detected, 38 were subsequently identified using GC-MS and were found to be primarily mono-and sesquiterpenoids.…”

“…In terms of sampling, the extraction of volatiles in gin may be performed via liquid-liquid extraction [10,15], which was found to be most suitable for GC-O analysis using dichloromethane [15]. For GC-MS analysis of gin volatiles, headspace solid-phase micro-extraction (HS-SPME) [8,9,13,14] or stir-bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) [12] have been applied. A study comparing the application of headspace sorptive extraction (HSSE), SBSE and SPME (albeit of volatiles from Arabica coffee), observed higher recoveries using HSSE or SBSE than via SPME due to the high amount of sorbent applied [25].…”