Estudo comparativo do teor de contaminantes em cachaças artesanais e industriais produzidas no Ceará

Abstract

Cachaça, a genuinely Brazilian drink, is the third most consumed distillate in the world. It can be produced on a large scale in stainless steel columns or on a smaller scale in copper stills, where the latter is usually made by hand. This study aimed to compare the content of contaminants (copper and lead) in artisanal and industrial cachaças produced in the state of Ceará according to the limits required by Normative Instruction No. 13 of June 29, 2005. The inorganic contaminants copper and lead were analyzed, which were quantified by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP - OES), the alcohol content and volatile acidity in ten cachaça samples, five of which are artisanal and five produced on an industrial scale. Of the ten samples analyzed, seven had copper, lead, alcohol content and volatile acidity within the limits required by Brazilian legislation. However, artisanal cachaça had a copper content of 6.184 mg / L, with the maximum limit established by current legislation being 5 mg / L. Two industrial cachaças A1 and A2 presented 31.8% and 30.8%, respectively, of alcohol content, with the minimum required limit being 38% to be considered cachaça. As the presence of copper is directly linked with the material from the stills used in the production process, probably this sample that presented non-conformity, may have occurred due to a lack of hygiene in the still or the size of the still was very large, which leads to a greater contact surface. High levels of copper in the human body cause a series of disorders and diseases, so it is necessary to carry out a strict control and the correct cleaning of the stills.