Chemometrics in brewing - A review

Chemometrics is the application of principles of measurement science and mu ltivariate mathematics and statistics to efficiently extract maximum useful information from data. It can be applied to sensory, chemical, and biologi cal measurements and typically is applied when multiple measurements are ma de on a set of samples. Exploratory data analysis (EDA) is often used to si mplify and gain better understanding of large, complicated data sets. EDA c an also be used to determine how many fundamental properties are represente d in a data set and the extent to which measurements are redundant. Pattern recognition (PARC) can be used to identify the cultivar or growing area of a raw material or the brand or production plant in which a product was mad e from its pattern of analytical results. Advanced PARC procedures can dete ct adulteration or be used for multivariate quality assurance or quality co ntrol. Empirical modeling has many applications, including development of a nalytical methods, discerning the relationships between product composition and sensory properties, developing knowledge of relationships between mole cular structure and biological properties, and developing control algorithm s for unit operations or processes.