Electrospray ionization-mass spectrometric measurement of sake, a traditional Japanese alcohol beverage, for characterization.

A rapid method for the characterization of sake by measuring the ratio of the peak intensities of taste components in sake, using electrospray ionization/mass spectrometry (ESI/MS) has been developed. Twenty-six different kinds of sake samples were collected and analyzed by ESI/MS. The ESI/MS ion peaks were assigned to amino acids, organic acids, and sugars. Principal component analysis was performed using the respective peak intensities obtained by ESI/MS measurements. As a result, the cumulative proportion of the two first principal components was over 70%, and these components could be used for the characterization of sake.