Volatile Compounds of Homemade Grape Brandy Determined by GC-MS Analysis

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to determine whether the addition of some ingredients to the same grape brandy after distillation affects the chemical composition of the volatile components by applying the gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Five samples were subjected to this study and a total of 57 compounds were identified. For all examined samples, esters were the most dominant class of compounds, but in different proportions. Ethyl decanoate was the most abundant compound in the sample L1 (grape brandy kept in an oak barrel) with the contribution of 29.1%, followed by ethyl octanoate (17.2%) and ethyl dodecanoate (14.8%). Sample L2 (grape brandy with summer truffles) was dominated by n– hexanol and ethyl lactate with similar contribution (18.1% and 17.8%, respectively). On the other hand, in the sample L3 (grape brandy with winter truffles) ethyl lactate was present with the contribution 44.8%. The dominant compounds in sample L4 (grape brandy with grains of coffee and dried grapes) were ethyl decanoate with contribution of 14.8% and phenyl ethyl alcohol (12.5%), while the two main volatiles of the sample L5 (grape brandy with young green walnuts) were diethyl succinate (22.9%) followed by ethyl lactate (21.9%). The results obtained in this study on volatile aromatic compounds in the analyzed grape brandies suggest that addition of some ingredients to the same grape brandy after distillation affects the chemical composition in both the number of aromatic compounds and their relative content.