Determination of ash content in Slovenian wines by empirical equations

Abstract

The possibility of fast determination of ash content from given conductivity, alcohol and total dry extract was examined on 58 samples of Slovenian white and red still wines. Values calculated by literature relations were compared to experimentally determined values obtained by official method (burning in a furnace). The standard deviations and coefficients of variation for literature equations were very different and higher (SD = 0.57-0.72, CV = 24.16-29.25 %) in comparison to our own equations (SD = 0.32-0.56, CV = 14.73-25.74 %) obtained by multiple regression analysis for the separate group of white and red wines as well as for all the samples studied. The differentiation of wines into two groups was statistically confirmed especially for red wines (SD = 0.32, CV = 14.73 %). The experiment has shown that the results to be obtained cannot be accurate enough if only one empirical equation for different types of wines is used.