Quantitative Monitoring of the Fermentation Process of a Barley Malt Mash by Benchtop 1H NMR Spectroscopy

Abstract

In order to investigate benchtop NMR spectroscopy as a monitoring tool for fermentation processes, we used a barley malt mash and took various samples over time and analysed them by NMR spectroscopy with 3-(trimethylsilyl)-2,2,3,3-tetradeuteropropionic acid sodium salt (TSP-d4) as an internal standard for the quantification of ethanol and validated the results by two different enzymatic standard test kits for ethanol analysis. We could show that the results between NMR spectroscopy and test kits were consistent with NMR having a much lower standard deviation. Finally, we discussed the applicability of the method as well as the possibility to quantify various other substances.

Recent Applications of Benchtop Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

“…The amount of ethanol in alcoholic beverages was determined using a 45 MHz benchtop NMR spectrometer and internal standards [17]. Simple ethanol quantitation methods based on benchtop NMR spectroscopy allow the rapid quality control of alcoholic beverages and can also be used for the real-time monitoring of fermentation processes, as they produce ethanol [28]. The remarkable development of related technologies has inspired the application of benchtop NMR spectroscopy to beverage quality control, as this technique does not require special pretreatment and offers the benefit of operational simplicity.…”

“…The amount of ethanol in alcoholic beverages was determined using a 45 MHz benchtop NMR spectrometer and internal standards [17]. Simple ethanol quantitation methods based on benchtop NMR spectroscopy allow the rapid quality control of alcoholic beverages and can also be used for the real-time monitoring of fermentation processes, as they produce ethanol [28].…”