High-performance liquid chromatography method for analysis of phenolic acids, phenolic aldehydes, and furanic derivatives in brandies. Development and validation

A simple and reproducible HPLC method permitting simultaneous determination of phenolic acids (gallic, vanillic, syringic, and ferulic), phenolic aldehydes (vanillin, syringaldehyde, coniferalclehyde, and sinapaldehyde), and furanic derivatives (furfural, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, and 5-methylfurfural) in brandies was developed and validated. A considerable advantage of this method is the good separation and quantification of the compounds of interest without sample preparation. The method exhibited good linearity, high precision, high sensitivity, and suitable selectivity and specificity over a wide range of concentrations as well as low analytical limits. It can therefore be of a great interest either for scientific research or for routine analysis of brandies, namely in quality control. The analysis of four-year-aged brandies shows the real applicability of the method to distinguishing brandies according to the botanical species of the wooden barrel.