Oak wood for aging alcoholic beverages. Sensory and analytical aspects

Abstract

The white oak that supplies the wood for cooperage, in order to age alcoholic beverages give to them many compounds, where the most important are: tannins, lignin, hemicelluloses and other extractives like oak lactones, volatile phenols, nitrogen compounds, organic acids and others of diverse organic families. This article draws the sensory impact and the chemical indicators that this compounds produces and the analytical methods used in research and quality control. In the light of these review, it is concluded the influence in sensory properties of the main oak compounds and the variety of analytical procedures.