Evaluation of ethyl carbamate formation in Luzhou-flavor spirit during distillation and storage processes

Publication date: Available online 19 February 2018 Source:Food Bioscience Author(s): Fang Fang, Yuying Qiu, Guocheng Du, Jian Chen Ethyl carbamate (EC) is a toxic contaminant that poses hazard to humans due to its potential carcinogenicity. This compound has been widely detected in fermented foods and alcoholic beverages such as Chinese spirits. Clarifying the mechanism of EC formation is difficult but necessary for reducing EC levels in Chinese spirits because of their complex fermentation procedures. The formation of ethyl carbamate during distillation and spirit aging were evaluated in this study. All grains used as materials for producing Luzhou-flavour spirit contained ethyl carbamate precursors, urea and citrulline. The highest levels of urea (93μg/kg) and citrulline (83μg/kg) were detected in wheat and sorghum, respectively. EC and its precursors were introduced into the raw spirit of Luzhou-flavour spirit during distillation. EC, which was present at 92μg/l concentration in raw spirit, came from the distillation process. EC content in the raw spirit increased to 66% during the first year of storage because of spontaneous formation of EC from its precursors mainly urea in the raw spirit.
Source: Food Bioscience - Category: Food Science Source Type: research