Desarrollo de métodos para la determinación de componentes minoritarios en bebidas alcohólicas fermentadas, mediante diferentes técnicas analíticas y herramientas quimiométricas

Abstract

Wine and beer are fermented products of great socio-economic importance worldwide. The most studied parameters of these beverages are their major components. However, the purpose of this Thesis has been the development of new analytical methodologies for the determination of different trace compounds (specifically, dicarbonyl compounds, biogenic amines and amino acids). These compounds, despite their low concentrations, are of great importance for the organoleptic quality and healthiness of these beverages. Moreover, the presence of these compounds can affect consumers’s health in different ways (hypertensive crises, headaches, etc.). For some of them, their maximum concentration is regulated, although for most of them there are only recommendations (which vary from country to country). In any case, the wine and beer industries try to keep the levels of these analytes as low as possible to ensure consumer safety. Studies have shown that the concentrations obtained for these analytes were below these recommendations. The development of these new methodologies has been carried out using different analytical techniques (i.e. (ultra) high performance liquid chromatography, voltammetry and molecular fluorescence). In addition, different chemometric tools, both qualitative and quantitative, have been used for sample classification and analyte concentration quantification.