Abstract
DIACETYL is an important component in the flavour of food and it is known to be the chief component of the aroma of butter. We have shown that it is also found in distilled alcoholic beverages, such as whisky and cognac. The formation of diacetyl in yeast fermentation has long been known1 and extensive studies have been made of its appearance and influence on the aroma of beer. There is still much confusion about the mechanism of its formation2–4, however, partly because of analytical difficulties. Maule et al.5 have proved that the colorimetric determination of diacetyl requiring frac-tionation by distillation may give values which are erroneous and too high in comparison with those obtained by gas chromatography with an electron capture detector.
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SUOMALAINEN, H., RONKAINEN, P. Mechanism of Diacetyl Formation in Yeast Fermentation. Nature 220, 792–793 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/220792a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/220792a0
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