Potential of blanquilla pear variety to produce pear spirits:influence of the fermentation and distillation conditions in the final quality of the spirits

Identifier:  TDX:345

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TDX345

Authors:  García Llobodanin, Laura Andrea

Abstract:
The research focused on three main aspects of the spirit production process: the fermentation conditions, the distillation conditions and the raw material used. The influence of each of these aspects on the quality of the distillates obtained therefrom was studied by detecting and quantifying the main flavor compounds. The chemical analyses showed that the fermentation yeast, temperature and pH had a significant effect on the volatile composition of the pear spirits obtained. However, sensory evaluations showed no significant differences between some of these samples. As far as the distillation process is concerned, the aromatic compounds quantified indicated that the quality of the distillates produced by the distillations in a copper alembic were better than the distillates produced in glass devices and in glass devices with copper shavings. In addition, the distillations performed in the presence of the fermentation lees usually gave better quality distillates. The raw material used also affected the volatile composition of the distillates. Sensorial analysis showed that distillates from natural pear juice were preferred to distillates from pear juice concentrate.