[High-performance liquid chromatography in the determination of organic acids in wine]

We shall distinguish the case of non aromatic organic acids from that one of phenolic acids. In the first one, we have applied to wines a method used for fruit-juices by Palmer and List, 1973. After contact of the wine with a strong acid resin, its is injected on anion exchange resin Aminex A 25 precolumn (formiate form) which retains all the organic acids. The precolumn is washed with water to eliminate neutral components, then connected with the chromatographic column which contains the same resin. The different acids are eluted with a solution of natrium formiate at 70 degrees C. They are detected by differential refractometry (galacturonic, lactic, malic, succinic, tartric acids) and by ultraviolet at 254 nm (shikimic acid). Beside these compounds which are identified by their retention volumes, others not yet attributed peaks are detected. The limits of detection are 2 mg/l for shikimic acid, 30 mg/l for tartric acid and 15 mg/l for the others. Analysis time is about one hour. In the case of phenolic acids, we extract them from wine by diethyl ether after saturation with NaCl or by demixtion. The determination of phenolic acids is done on the ether extract or on the organic layer of the demixtion. Chromatography is obtained on octadecylsilanised column (RP 18) with solvent gradient (from 10% methanol in KH2PO4O,1 M pH 2,1 to 60% methanol in the same buffer) and detection in ultraviolet at 254 nm. The knowledge of recovery of acids by diethyl ether or by demixtion permits to obtain their concentrations in wine. The different so determinated phenolic acids are: gallic, 4 hydroxybenzoic, cafeic, vanillic, syringic and para coumaric acids. We have applied these methods to 32 wines for phenolic acids and 80 wines for non aromatic acids. Some results are presented in the case of 24 wines issued from Gamay and 8 wines from Pinot and it appears that tartric and shikimic acids have more important average concentrations in the former than in the latter.