Volatile congeners in alcoholic beverages: analysis and forensic significance

Beside ethyl alcohol, the major active component of alcoholic beverages, almost all drinks contain volatile and non-volatile substances called congeners. They have various pharmacological effects and are present in different concentrations depending on beverage type and manufacturing methods. We analyzed volatile congeners in five samples of Romanian home-made plum spirits collected from four Transylvanian counties were double distillation is used after fruits fermentation, by a GC method developed in the Institute of Legal Medicine from Freiburg. Volumetric concentration of ethanol ranged between 52 and 76%. Calibration with aqueous standards resulted in linearity with a correlation coefficient of over 0.995 for each congener. We found high amounts of isobutanol in our samples compared to beverages listed in the literature, influencing forensic opinion concerning the time of ingestion in correlation with concentration of 1.propanol. Another congener, usually absent in alcoholic beverages, 1-butanol, was constantly present in all our spirit samples, meaning a limitation of its use as a blood putrefaction marker. Volatile congener composition of all our samples complied with EEC regulations with regard to fruit spirits.