A case study comparing distillation technologies for plum palinka production

Péter Korzenszky,László Székely,Gábor Barátossy,Gábor Géczi

doi:10.5219/1472

Abstract

Palinka production has a long tradition in Hungary and the neighboring countries. Previously, the fruit distillate was produced exclusively using the traditional Pot-Still Double Distillation (PSDD) technology. This distillation method means, in practice, a simple fractional distillation repeated twice. However, in other industries, such as the petroleum industry or the pharmaceutical industry, a continuous, so-called repeated distillation procedure is used (RCDS – Rectification Column Distillation Systems). In the production of palinka, the latter procedure has gained more and more ground in recent years, thus displacing the traditional technology. In the territory of today’s Hungary, there are more than 16,000 registered private palinka distillers. However, based on public databases, it is not possible to know the proportion of the two different palinka making processes used in palinka production. The two processes differ to a large degree. The amount of hearts obtained using the continuous operation plate rectification column (RCDS) is lower, while its alcohol content is very high: 75 – 90 vol%, depending on the fruit. On the other hand, when using the traditional pot-still double distillation (PSDD) method, the amount of hearts is higher, but its alcohol content is lower (60 – 70%). The continuous procedure, also called single-stage, is faster. This is one of the reasons for its popularity because it makes production more economical. The objective of our research was to find out whether a significant difference could be detected between the two plum palinkas produced using the two different distillation technologies, based on current legal requirements. Our research also included sensory testing to determine whether consumers could distinguish between the products manufactured in different ways. Our analyses were carried out in 2019 in the accredited laboratory of the National Food Chain Safety Office and among the students and staff of the Gödöllő campus of Szent István University.

Highlights

According to the current regulation, only alcoholic beverages prepared from fruit produced in Hungary, by fermentation and distillation and with an alcohol content between 37.5% and 86% (V/V%) can be called palinkas (László, Hodúr and Csanádi, 2016; Panyik, 2018)
Sample I marked the final product of the tower distillation apparatus, while sample II meant the plum palinka sample made with the traditional pot-still technology
Based on the statistical analysis it can be stated that our hypothesis No.1 must be rejected because no significant differences (p

Summary

Introduction

According to the current regulation, only alcoholic beverages prepared from fruit produced in Hungary, by fermentation and distillation and with an alcohol content between 37.5% and 86% (V/V%) can be called palinkas (László, Hodúr and Csanádi, 2016; Panyik, 2018). The quality of palinka is influenced by three well-distinguishable stages: the fruit itself (its variety, state of ripeness, and date of harvest); the mashing procedure, and, the distillation technology. Distillation is a separation technology process in which the volatile components that enter the vapor phase during the evaporation are separated from the liquid phase. This is followed by the condensation of the generated vapors and re-liquefaction. The extraction of the alcohol content of the mash, and on the other hand, the separation of undesirable volatile components present in Volume 14

Objectives

Results

Conclusion