Determination of Ethanol in Alcoholic Drinks: Flow Injection Analysis with Amperometric Detection Versus Portable Raman Spectrometer

Abstract

A flow injection analysis with integrated amperometric alcohol dehydrogenase biosensor and a handheld Mira‐DS Raman spectrometer have been compared for the determination of ethanol in different samples of alcoholic drinks. The biosensor was constructed from the commercial screen‐printed carbon electrode as amperometric transducer and covered by a thin layer comprising alcohol dehydrogenase, reduced single‐layer graphene oxide, rhodium(IV) dioxide, and glutaraldehyde. Both assemblies were tested on analysis of plum brandy, white rum, vodka, white and red wines, strong dark beer, and non‐alcoholic beer. The two principally different analytical methods were critically compared and some limitations found, especially in case of analysis of red wine and beers. Finally, some future improvements of both analytical tools under test outlined.

Current State of Sensors and Sensing Systems Utilized in Beer Analysis

“…A flow injection analysis integrated with an amperometric ADH graphenebased composite biosensor was designed for ethanol determination in alcoholic drinks. The amperometric device was compared to a portable Raman spectrometer, and the results revealed several limitations of the two tools, mainly in the analysis of samples with complex matrices, such as dark beers and red wines [66]. Based on a semiconductive polymer-nickel oxide nanocomposite, the sensor showed good sensing of ethanol and a good reproducibility at room temperature for real samples such as beer and wine [67].…”

Home-Made Membraneless Vaporization Gas-Liquid Separator for Colorimetric Determination of Ethanol in Alcoholic Beverages

“…) producing Chromium (III) (Cr 3+ ) ion with subsequent monitoring by titration or colorimetric detection [1,4], which are reliable but require a high sample volume, reagents, and energy consumption. Reliable and less sample consumed analysis of ethanol can be accomplished using instrumental techniques such as gas chromatography [5][6][7], liquid chromatography [8,9], infrared spectrometry (IR) [10], Raman spectrometry [11,12], nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry (NMR) [13], and mass spectrometry [14], but the instruments are expensive and require a skillful operator. Alternatively, using sensor-based methods is another choice [15][16][17][18][19], but expensive and specific chemicals are consumed for complicated preparation of the particular sensors.…”