Abstract

A flow-injection method (FI) for the sequential determination of ethanol and acetic acid in vinegar is reported. The determination of ethanol is based on the oxidation of the pervaporated ethanol by Cr2O7K2. The acetic acid is determined by an acid-base reaction with Thymol Blue as the indicator. Both reactions are monitored photometrically at 600 nm using a single detector. Optimisation studies and assessment of the sequential FI method are also reported. The linear determination range is between 0-12 % (v/v) for ethanol and 0-10 % (grams of acetic acid in 100 ml) for acetic acid. The sample throughput of the sequential manifold is 7 per hour. The new method has been applied to vinegar samples and the results obtained are in excellent agreement with those from the reference methods used in Spain.