Analysis of Cu and Zn in Red Wine using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

The quality standards are fixed in the national wine regulations such as the German “Weinverordnung”, 2002 and the European Union's new wine regulations from 2009, which includes the production process, alcohol concentrations and the maximum allowable concentrations of the elements. A meticulous quality control procedure is essential, and during each stage of the production process spectroscopic methods such as AAS-, ICP-, FTIR-, and UV-VIS spectroscopy are applied for quality assurance or for product characterisation. For the quantitative determination of copper and zink, the atomic absorption spectrometry is the method of choice. This application note describes the use of the Shimadzu flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer AA- 7000F in the control of copper and zinc in wine.