The application of multivariate analysis to spectrophotometric (UV) data was explored for distinguishing extracts of cachaça woods commonly used in the manufacture of casks for aging cachaças (oak, cabreúva-parda, jatobá, amendoim and canela-sassafrás). Absorbances close to 280 nm were more strongly correlated with oak and jatobá woods, whereas absorbances near 230 nm were more correlated with canela-sassafrás and cabreúva-parda. A comparison between the spectrophotometric model and the model based on chromatographic (HPLC-DAD) data was carried out. The spectrophotometric model better explained the variance data (PC1 + PC2 = 91%) exhibiting potential as a routine method for checking aged spirits.

Herein, we report the concentration of ethyl carbamate (EC) and copper in 380 samples of sugar-cane spirit and 45 samples of manioc spirit as determined by GC-MS and FAAS respectively. The cyanide content determined spectrophotometrically is reported for the manioc spirit. Sugar cane spirit produced by alembic distillation (70,0 µg L-1) shown a lower content of EC than samples produced by column distillation (270 µg L-1). No simple correlation between the content of EC and copper for sugar cane spirit as well among the concentration of EC, copper, and cyanide for manioc spirit could be observed.