Thanks for your attention and interest.
I have made some wine and aged it for 6 months with pH 3.1 and pH 3.5. However, the content of ethyl acetate was higher in pH 3.1 wine rather than pH 3.5 wine. According to literature, the hydrolysis effect of acetate esters is bound to be stronger in lower pH conditions.
How to explain this paradox? Is there any potential reason? Thank you for your answer!
Ethyl acetate is formed by the condensation of the ethanol with acetic acid catalyzed by acid. .Due to air oxidation of alcohol gets converted into acetic acid which catalyses esterification. Therefore, the percentage of the ethyl acetate increases with in lowering PH i.e. acidic PH=3.1.
I would need some more information on the winemaking procedure before I can make any comments on your question. Were the wines made from the same grape lot? Which yeast did you use? Did the wine receive any nutrients before/during ferment? How did you adjust pH? ....
Furthermore, oxidation of ethanol is more difficult at lower pH. Thus, lower pH would rather lead to lower contents in acetic acid.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Chemistry
- Sulfites
- Inorganic Chemistry
- Acids