Abstract
A quantitative method for the GC analysis of malic acid in wines, before or after malolactic fermentation, has been developed. Tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide and iodobutane are used to produce the butyl malate and butyl glutarate (internal standard) esters. A calibration curve of the relative malate/glutarate peak heights vs. the amount of malic acid has a correlation coefficient of 0.98 over the covered concentration range. A comparison of results obtained from the GC and enzymatic methods for seven different wines ranging in malic acid concentration from 50 to 1800 mg/L showed an average difference of 8%, which is not statistically significant at the 95% confidence level.
- Received June 1984.
- Copyright 1985 by the American Society for Enology and Viticulture
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