Determination of Alcohol Content in Alcoholic Beverages Using 45 MHz Benchtop NMR Spectrometer

Abstract

Alcohol or ethanol is considered the most widely used recreational drug worldwide, and its production, consumption, and sale are strictly regulated by laws. Alcohol content of alcoholic beverages (wine, beers, and spirits) is about 3–50% v/v. Analytical methods to determine the alcohol content must be reliable, precise, and accurate. In this study, the amount of ethanol in several alcoholic beverages was determined using a 45 MHz low-field benchtop NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectrometer. Internal standard and standard addition analytical methods were utilized to quantify ethanol. For both methods, acetic acid or acetonitrile was used as internal standard to quantify alcohol content by using the peak area corresponding to the methyl peaks of ethanol, acetic acid, or acetonitrile. Results showed that internal standard method gave values of percent alcohol that are in close agreement with the indicated label as confirmed by running the samples in a 400 MHz high-field NMR spectrometer using acetic acid as internal standard. This study demonstrates the utility of a benchtop NMR spectrometer that can provide an alternative technique to analyze percent alcohol in alcoholic products.