Elemental composition of non-oak wood extracts commonly used in Balkan cooperage

In the production of some alcoholic beverages one of the most important practices is theageing process in a presence of wood. This process contributes to improved sensorycharacteristics such as aroma, color, taste and astringency. Although oak heartwood isthe most used material in cooperage, other species such as chestnut, cherry, and mulberrycan be also considered. Currently, limited published data are available on the mineralcontent of the wood extract from cooperage industry, although some research was doneto investigate the content of heavy metals in alcoholic beverages1, especially in wine2.Daily consumption of the wine and brandy with an elevated content of heavy metalsmight cause chronical poisoning. To avoid this issue, the maximum allowableconcentration (MAC, mg L–1) in fruit brandies were established for lead, zinc, arsenium,and copper.1The aim of this research was to investigate elemental composition of ethanolic extracts,obtained from alternative wood species used in Balkan cooperage, such as mulberry(Morus alba L.), Myrobalan plum (Prunus cerasifera Ehrh.), black locust (Robiniapseudoacacia L.), and wild cherry (Prunus avium (L.) L.). Elements were determined byinductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Results indicatedthat the elemental composition of wild cherry extract was much lower than in other nonoakwood extracts, and all investigated wood extracts have lower content of traceelements than maximum allowable concentration in fruit brandies.Abstract: [https://cherry.chem.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/5297