Major and minor compounds in a Mexican spirit, young Mezcal coming from two Agave species.

Abstract

Major and minor compounds in a traditional Mexican spirit, young mezcal from Agave angustifolia Haw. and Agave potatorum Zucc., were characterised using gas chromatography and solid phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A large variability in both mezcal samples was detected in the content of methanol, higher alcohols, acetic acid, and ethyl acetate. However, their values were below the maximum concentration permitted by the Mexican Standards. The minor compounds identified by mass spectrometry included alcohols, esters, ketones, acids, and furanes. The similarities found between mezcal from Agave angustifolia and Agave potatorum may be due to their processing methods. In addition, mezcals contain unique compounds that can be used as markers to identify the products of different origins.

Volatile Compound Profiles in Mezcal Spirits as Influenced by Agave Species and Production Processes

“…It is interesting to observe that these compounds have not been reported in mezcal [7,19,21]. Volatile phenolic derivatives have been associated with smoked foods and certain characteristics of wines [25].…”

“…Among the factors that have an influence on the artisanal process of making mezcal are Agave species and origin [2,4,7], initial sugar concentration, environmental conditions, native yeast strain, and, in certain cases, the addition of ammonium sulfate or ammonium chloride to the fermentation must [4,6,[8][9][10]. Another important parameter that ultimately defines the quality of agave beverages is the distillation system used [11,12].…”

Application of Gas Chromatography to Analysis of Spirit-Based Alcoholic Beverages

“…In order to discriminate volatile fractions of mezcal alcohol made from two different agave species, ANOVA was used. The analysis was conducted by GC-FID technique using direct injection (Vera-Guzm an et al, 2010). A comparative analysis of the volatile fractions of selected Spanish alcohols (tequila, mezcal, stool, and bacanora) was performed (Lachenmeier et al, 2006).…”

Fertirriego en vivero a plantas de Agave potatorum Zucc micropropagadas-aclimatizadas

“…El Agave potatorum Zucc es una especie silvestre propia de selva baja caducifolia, que es aprovechada de manera no planificada, por lo que sus poblaciones han sido disminuidas en los Valles centrales, sierra sur y Mixteca del estado de Oaxaca. Se le usa principalmente para la elaboración artesanal de una bebida alcohólica destilada denominada mezcal (Pérez y Casas, 2007), con un sabor y aroma característicos debido a la proporción de compuestos aromáticos volátiles (Molina et al, 2007;Vera et al, 2009;Vera-Guzmán et al, 2010).…”

“…The Agave potatorum Zucc is a very wild species of deciduous forest which is exploited in unplanned manner, so that their populations have been reduced in the central valleys, Mixteca highlands and southern state of Oaxaca. It is used mainly for the craftsmanship of an alcoholic drink distilled called mezcal (Pérez and Casas, 2007), with a flavor and aroma due to the proportion of volatile aromatic compounds (Molina et al, 2007;Vera et al, 2009;Vera-Guzmán et al, 2010).…”