Development of a quantitative method for organic acid in wine and beer using high performance liquid chromatography

This study was conducted to compare the organic acid content in liquors (red wine, white wine, and beer) using three different high-performance liquid chromatography analysis methods. Post-column reaction methods (method 2 and 3) were found to be more promising than UV-detection method (method 1). Using method 2 (two columns), the analyzed red wine was found to contain 2,652.4 mg/L tartaric acid and 1,392.9 mg/L lactic acid but relatively lower amounts of malic acid (271.0 mg/L). Furthermore, tartaric acid (1,160.8-2,749.1 mg/L) and malic acid (470.2-3,107.9 mg/L) were the major components in white wine. Beers were analyzed using method 3 (one column). In the analyzed foreign beers, lactic acid (95.9-226.4 mg/L), malic acid (62.2-110.5 mg/L), acetic acid (93.5-183.8 mg/L), and succinic acid (37.0-56.2 mg/L) were detected. Similar to the foreign beers, the contents of succinic acid in the domestic beers were the lowest. The proposed methods could be useful for quantitative analysis of organic acids in wine and beer.