Liquid chromatographic determination of organic acids in txakoli from Bizkaia

A direct injection high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) procedure has been developed for the separation and determination of the major carboxylic acids in wine. The acids are separated on a reversed-phase column C-18, eluted with dilute acetic acid and monitored by UV spectrophotometry at 254 nm. Tartaric acid, malic acid, lactic acid, and citric acid can be determined by this method. The method has been applied to grape must, red wine and white wine without interference from sugars. The samples analysed were txakoli from Bizkaia (wine from the north of Spain).