Profiles of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Brazilian Sugar Cane Spirits:  Discrimination between Cachaças Produced from Nonburned and Burned Sugar Cane Crops

Abstract

Cachaça may be contaminated by a remarkable presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) when the sugar cane crop used for its production is burned before harvesting. The analysis of 15 PAHs by liquid chromatography coupled to a fluorescence detector in 131 cachaça samples from burned and nonburned sugar cane crops is reported. Average contents of 21.1 and 1.91 microg L(-1) for total PAHs were observed for cachaças originating from burned and nonburned sugar cane plantations, respectively. The main difference between these two classes of cachaças is in the quantitative profile of the most potent carcinogenic PAH, benzo[a]pyrene, which is more abundant in cachaça produced from burned sugar cane crops (4.54 x 10(-2) microg L(-1)) than in cachaça produced from nonburned crops (9.02 x 10(-3) microg L(-1)). The contents of benzo[a]pyrene in both classes of cachaça are lower than the legal limit established by the European Union (EU) at 2.00 microg L(-1) for food products. In relation to the total PAH content suggested by the German Society for Fat Science, both cachaças from burned (21.1 microg L(-1)) and nonburned crops (1.91 microg L(-1)) are below the limit (25 microg L(-1)) for total PAH content. The analytical data for PAHs, when treated through the multivariate statistical methods principal component analysis and canonical discriminant analysis, provide a very good distinction between samples produced from burned and nonburned sugar cane crops with a certainty of 98.1%.

Optimization of the benzo(A)pyrene determination procedure in cachaça

“…These results are considered satisfactory for BaP determination 24 and they are in accordance with values reported by others authors for BaP analysis in food and beverages. 8,10,[15][16][17][18]25 Extraction procedures were evaluated to maximize recovery and decrease both time and solvent consumption. Three different extraction procedures were tested, one using only SPE cartridge for extraction and clean-up steps, and two others, solvent partition to extraction and silica gel column to clean-up.…”

“…The recovery values are satisfactory for determinations at these levels (μg L -1 ) 24,26 and they were in accordance with those reported by others authors. 8,15,18,25 All peaks obtained in the recovery experiments were analyzed by GC-MS. This technique showed itself sensible and reliable to confirm the BaP peak identity.…”

“…13 C-18 cartridges have been used for both extraction and clean-up of water and beverage samples. [14][15][16] A common analytical procedure used in the determination of BaP in food is high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection, 4,15,17 sometimes combining gas-chromatography (GC-MS) for identifying BaP compounds. 17 Brazilian sugar cane spirit (cachaça) is a typical Brazilian distilled alcoholic beverage obtained from distillation of fermented sugar cane juice.…”

Distinção entre cachaças destiladas em alambiques e em colunas usando quimiometria

“…22,24 Entre os 35 compostos analisados, aqueles que no decorrer das análises quimiométricas apresentaram características semelhantes de discriminação (análise do gráfico de pesos) foram excluídos (menores valores de pesos). as técnicas quimiométricas utilizadas foram: [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] análise de fatores (FA -Factor Analysis); 26,27 análise discriminante com calibração multivariada por quadrados mínimos parciais (PLS-DA -Partial Least Square -Discriminant Analysis); 29 análise discriminante quadrática (QDA -Quadratic Discriminant Analysis). 30,31 a realização da análise multivariada foi dividida em duas etapas.…”

“…12,13,20 Com o intuito de diferenciar quimicamente estes dois tipos de cachaça e contribuir para a tipificação do destilado nacional, foi realizado estudo com amostras coletadas no momento da destilação e os resultados analíticos avaliados utilizando-se técnicas quimiométricas. [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] Parte eXPerimental amostras as 115 amostras foram coletadas diretamente no momento da destilação para confirmar o sistema utilizado e evitar qualquer modificação na composição química decorrente da adição de água para diluição ou açúcar para correções da bebida. as amostras foram armazenadas em frascos apropriados e posteriormente em geladeira.…”