The use of derivatives and chemometrics to interrogate the UV–Visible spectra of gin samples to monitor changes related to storage

Extensive research has been carried out to study and characterise different properties of alcoholic beverages using spectroscopy methods. Although UV-VIS spectroscopy is being used for the routine analysis of several beverages and foods, it has not been extensively used as a high throughput method. The objective of this study was to evaluate the application of derivatives to interrogate the UV-VIS spectra of gin samples to monitor changes related with storage conditions. Samples were analysed using an UV-VIS (200–800 nm) spectrophotometer with 1 cm path length. The raw spectra, second, third and fourth derivatives were used to analyse and interpret the UV-VIS spectra related to storage conditions. The results of this study indicated that the use of derivatives (third and fourth) as pre-process method to the UV-VIS spectra of gin samples allowed for a better identification of wavelengths as well as interpretation of the spectra associated with the different storage conditions.