Characterization of Organic Acids and Phenolic Compounds of Cereal Vinegars and Fruit Vinegars in China

Abstract

The presence of phenolic compounds and organic acids in vinegars can make great contribution to sensory quality and functional activity. Results indicated that cereal vinegars exhibited higher total phenolic content, flavanols and DPPH radical-scavenging activity index than fruit vinegars. Gallic acid, catechinhydrate and vanillic acid were detected to be the major phenolic compounds in cereal vinegars. In apple vinegar chlorogenic acid was the characteristics while the most abundant mono-phenol in persimmon and kiwifruit was gallic acid. The most plentiful organic acids were acetic acid and lactic acid, which aggregately accounted for more than 70% of the total acids among all simples. Furthermore, it was observed that fruit vinegars and cereal vinegars could be clearly discriminated by principle component analysis and cluster analysis. Practical Applications Organic acids and polyphenols are vital compounds of vinegars because they greatly contribute to sensory quality and functional activity. In vinegars, the content of organic acids and polyphenols is variable and depends on several factors, mainly raw materials, techniques of processing and microbiological growth. Previous researchers have extensively investigated traditional cereal vinegars and emerging fruit vinegars, respectively. We performed a comparative analysis of cereal vinegars and fruit vinegars and found the characteristic compounds of these two kinds of vinegars. Consequently, this research could give some help to vinegar making and the distinction between the cereal and fruit vinegar.