Chemical characterization and differentiation of Montenegrin plum spirits obtained by two techniques of traditional batch distillation Scientific paper

Abstract

Volatile compounds of plum spirit have a decisive influence on its quality and are closely related to the method of production. In this paper, minor and major volatile of plum spirits produced in small artisanal distilleries of Mon­tenegro, obtained by two batch distillation techniques traditionally used (single and double distillation in alembic of the same construction) were analysed by GC-FID and GC-FID–MS methods. All plum spirits contained all 8 major volat­ile compounds analysed by GC-FID method, but out of a total of 138 minor aromatic compounds detected, only 32 are common to all samples. Wide ranges of concentrations of most volatile compounds indicated the great heterogeneity of plum spirit production methods in Montenegro, included, among others, two different distillation techniques. Тhе principаl cоmpоnеnt analysis have shown that differentiation of plum spirits obtained by single or double batch distillation is not possible using the all compounds analysed by GC-FID or GC-FID–MS, as well as compounds belonging the same chemical class, but rather based on the content of the volatile compounds typical for batch distillation tail fraction.