“Cachaças” (Sugarcane Spirit) Aged Quantitation of Phenolic Compounds, Antibacterial and Antioxidant Activity

Abstract

The “cachaça” is currently one of the fastest growing agro-industrial industries in the country as the drink considered as a symbol of Brazilian nationality. This study aimed to quantify the phenolic compounds, evaluate the antioxidant and antibacterial activity of different samples of aged “cachaça”. The physic-chemical analysis was performed at the Brandy Quality Laboratory of the Federal University of Lavras, and the determination of phenolic compounds was performed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The antimicrobial activity evaluation was held at the Food Mycology Laboratory through the cavity agar diffusion technique and by steam using the micro-organisms Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella choleraesuis, Listeria monocytogenes and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The antioxidant activity was evaluated using the DPPH radical sequestering method. The values obtained for the phenolic compounds ranged from 0.41 to 9.69 mg/L, observing the predominance of syringaldehyde, gallic acid and vanillic acid. The phenolic extracts showed a satisfactory antibacterial activity for both Gram-negative and Gram-positive but did not show inhibition against the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The antioxidant activity was evidenced by the DPPH test for cachaças tested and the “cachaça” aged in oak barrel showed the highest activity, followed by “cachaça” aged in jequitibá, amburana and balm barrels.