CONTENT OF HARMFUL CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS THAT MAY PERSIST IN PLUM SPIRITS

Abstract

In Bosnia and Herzegovina plum spirits are often made in small quantity production batches, involving pot still alembic vessels. In many cases the producer will utilize plums still retaining their stone during the fermentation process which results in important contributions to the overall complexity of final spirit aroma. Plum spirits are characterized by an intense fruity aroma. However, these spirits can also contain some harmful compounds. In this study were determined the concentration of the methanol and hydrocyanic acid (HCN) that are toxic and acetaldehyde and furfural that are harmful just if they are present in higher concentration. Plum spirits were obtained using three plum variety: Pozegaca, Stanley and Bilska rana (Buchler). The behavior of these major harmful compounds was followed during distillation, with their respective contents measured in the heads, hearts, and tails fractions. The most abundant compound was methanol, which is concentrated in the heart fraction, reaching a maximum value of 9668 mg·L-1 absolute alcohol, in the heart fraction of Bilska rana spirit. The concentration of HCN and furfural was influenced by the plum cultivar, the spirits made from the Stanley cultivar contained higher concentrations of these two compounds. The concentrations of harmful compounds are seen not to exceed the allowed limit if an adequate fraction of the heart and tail fractions are removed.