Influence of Wood Heat Treatment, Temperature and Maceration Time on Vanillin, Syringaldehyde, and Gallic Acid Contents in Oak Wood and Wine Spirit Mixtures

Abstract

Oak wood plays a very important role in spirit aging. A study using HPLC was, therefore, carried out on the influence of the temperature of wood treatment on phenolic compounds of spirits in contact with wood. It was found that high temperatures favor lignin decay, thus increasing benzoic aldehyde contents. Study of the influence of maceration time showed that periods of more than 24 hours do not cause significant changes in the phenolic derivative contents of spirits.