A SEMI‐AUTOMATIC METHOD FOR THE GAS CHROMATOGRAPHIC DETERMINATION OF VICINAL DIKETONES IN ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

Abstract

A method has been developed for the routine determination of diacetyl and pentanedione in alcoholic beverages. After the addition of internal standard and any necessary dilution, a stream of nitrogen swept the components of the sample at a fixed temperature to a 2 ml injection loop of a gas chromatograph fitted with an electron capture detector. The data from the chromatograph were collected on cassette and processed by computer. The time between starting temperature equilibration of the sample and obtaining the diketone content as μg/litre beverage was about 17 min. The coefficient of variation for diacetyl was 1·8% (5·1%, with manual injections) and for 2,3 pentanedione 1·6% (9·1%) for replicated analyses of the same sample. 1979 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling