Mineral Profile of Brazilian Cachaças and Other International Spirits

Using atomic absorption and flame emission spectroscopies, the presence at the ppb level of Li, Na, K, Mg, Ca, Al, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd and Hg metal ions were investigated in 74 Brazilian caninhas and in 26 imported alcoholic beverages. Except for the analysis of the Al, Hg, Pb and Cd ions, for which the samples were pre-concentrated, these metal ions were measured by direct aspiration of the sample into the burner of the instrument without previous treatment. Attempts to correlate caninhaʹs metal ions abundance with their geographic origin have been unsuccessful. The caninhas and the international beverages studied here exhibit similar cationic profile. As judged from the RDA values for the analyzed cations, 100 ml daily ingestion of caninha does not produce any bad nutritional impact.