Division 3 PrincipleF1
United Kingdom
The trans-anethole concentration of the spirit is determined by gas chromatography (GC). The same quantity of an internal standard, e.g. 4-allylanisole (estragole) when estragole is not naturally present in the sample, is added to the test sample and to a trans-anethole reference solution of known concentration, both of which are then diluted with a 45 % ethanol solution and injected directly into the GC system. An extraction is necessary before sample preparation and analysis for liqueurs that contain large amounts of sugars.