The Analysis of Vodka: A Review Paper

Abstract

Vodka is the most popular alcoholic beverage in Poland, Russia and other Eastern European countries, made from ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin that has been produced via fermentation of potatoes, grains or other agricultural products. Despite distillation and multiple filtering, it is not possible to produce 100 % ethanol. The solution with a minimum ethanol content of 96 %, which is used to produce vodkas, also contains trace amounts of other compounds such as, esters, aldehydes, higher alcohols, methanol, acetates, acetic acid and fusel oil. Regarding that fact, it is very important to carry on research on the analysis of the composition and verifying the authenticity of the produced vodkas. This paper summarizes the studies of vodka composition and verifying the authenticity and detection of falsified products. It also includes the methods for analysing vodkas, such as: using gas, ion and liquid chromatography coupled with different types of detectors, electronic nose, electronic tongue, conductivity measurements, isotope analysis, atomic absorption spectroscopy, near infrared spectroscopy, spectrofluorometry and mass spectrometry. In some cases, the use of chemometric methods and preparation techniques were also described.

Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of native rye, wheat and triticale starch

“…At the beginning of the 21 st century, many distilleries began to experiment with the production of whiskey from rye, and several companies now produce high‐quality aged spirits . In Russia, vodka is produced, for the most part, from wheat, whereas in Poland rye is more frequently used as a raw material for this purpose . It was found that the increased dry‐matter content in rye‐based mashes could pose a problem in the achievement of higher fermentation efficiency, because of the large amounts of xylans.…”

“…48,51 In Russia, vodka is produced, for the most part, from wheat, whereas in Poland rye is more frequently used as a raw material for this purpose. 52 It was found that the increased dry-matter content in rye-based mashes could pose a problem in the achievement of higher fermentation efficiency, because of the large amounts of xylans. Further research is therefore required to improve this universal method of spirit production.…”

Orosensory responsiveness and alcohol behaviour

“…If the aversive properties of ethanol, particularly bitterness, were important in mediating alcohol intake, it would be expected to be most obvious in the unmixed spirits category, as these products are most similar to simple aqueous ethanol solutions (Wisniewska et al, 2015).…”

Taking ethanol quality beyond fuel grade: A review

“…Onuki et al (28) developed SPME-based quantification for 10 major fermentation by-products in industrial ethanol. A comprehensive review of vodka analyses methods was published by Wiśniewska et al (97) as well as a comprehensive review of applications of gas chromatography to the analysis of spirit-based alcoholic beverages (98). A comprehensive review of vodka analyses methods was published by Wiśniewska et al (97) as well as a comprehensive review of applications of gas chromatography to the analysis of spirit-based alcoholic beverages (98).…”