Measurement of Wine Vinegars' Color: Application of the Characteristic Vector Method

Abstract

As there is no official method to measure the color of wine vinegar, the aim of this work is to propose a quick and simple method to do so with minimum error. Vector analysis was tested and proved to be applicable to the reconstitution of vinegar transmittance spectra. When spectrophotometric measurements are made with 0.2 cm path length cells, the use of three characteristic vectors is sufficient for a close approximation. Determination of transmittance at only three wavelengths, 440, 530, and 590 nm, is necessary to obtain the three coefficients necessary to reconstitute a vinegar's spectrum and to obtain the tristimulus chromatic characteristics. The color coordinates of each vinegar have been calculated on the basis of these results. Keywords: Wine vinegar; color; characteristic vector analysis; tristimulus colorimetry