Studies on Metals in Alcoholic Beverages (I)

Abstract

The contents of iron, copper, zinc, lead and tin in sake brewing water, sake, wine and beer were determined by square-wave polarography.The results obtained are summarized as follows:1. The content of iron: Below 0.10ppm (8 samples) and 0.11-0.40ppm (14 samples) for sake. 3.47-14.16ppm (2 samples) for canned sake. Below 0.50ppm (1 sample) and 0.88-6.72ppm (4 samples) for wine. 0.12-0.17ppm (4 samples) for canned beer and below 0.10ppm (1 sample) for beer.2. The content of copper: 0.09-1.20ppm (24 samples) for sake. 0.18-1.46ppm (2 samples) for canned sake. 0.14-7.85ppm (5 samples) for wine. 0.06-0.14ppm (4 samples) for canned beer and 0.06ppm (1 sample) for beer.3. The content of zinc: 0.71-2.10ppm (14 samples) for sake and 0.12-1.53ppm (5 samples) for wine.4. The content of lead: Below 0.05ppm (5 samples) and 0.06-0.44ppm (10 samples) for sake. Below 0.10ppm (3 samples) and 0.12-0.32ppm (2 samples) for wine.5. The content of iron in canned sake (2 samples) was higher than in bottled one while tin was very low in canned sake and beer.6. It was confirmed that copper-contamination of high degree in samples (No. 1, 2, 3 and 4) was due to exposure on the corrosived surface of the filter apparatus.