Chemometric analysis and volatile compounds of traditional balsamic vinegars from Modena

In order to characterise traditional balsamic vinegars from Modena some vol atile compounds have been dosed. These substances, responsible for flavour, were extracted after 3 h of stripping with nitrogen and adsorbed by activa ted charcoal and tenax. The data collected were successively elaborated wit h multivariate statistical techniques. While linear principal component ana lysis (LPCA) could not permit an unequivocal differentiation, discriminant method has given a complete discrimination among the various kinds of vineg ars. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.