Description
Wood has been used in alcoholic beverages for centuries, mainly as material for containers
used for alcoholic beverages aging. Recently OIV (Organisation International de la Vigne et
du Vin) approved the use of chips (Resolution oeno 3/2005) and staves as alternatives for
barrels. These practices are being rapidly spread among winemakers. The increased used of
these alternatives are mainly related to low investments, similar sensorial results obtained in
shorter time, simplicity of use and the possibility of avoiding contamination and offflavours,
too-often related to aged or contaminated barrels.
Besides oak, other woods are being looked at for enological purposes, such as acacia, cherry,
chestnut and mulberry. Their characteristics are commonly compared to oak. In the past,
chestnut (Castanea sativa) was widely used in the Mediterranean area, because of its
availability and its cheap price. Chestnut wood has higher porosity than oak. Cherry wood
(Prunus avium) has high porosity and oxygen permeation, and is usually used for short
aging times. Acacia wood (Robinia pseudoacacia) is hard, with low porosity. Mulberry wood
(Morus alba and Morus nigra) is tender and elastic, with medium porosity, and is
characterized by a low release of compounds. The lack of properties for cooperage is now
overcome by their possible use as staves or chips.
The aim of this work is to present an overview on volatile and semi-volatile composition of
different kind of wood with oenological interest. Within this purpose, this work will be
focused on a bibliographic review of the most used chromatographic methods for
characterization of volatile and semi-volatile compounds, including also a brief description
of the most common reported sample preparation methods for chromatographic analysis.
; Garcia, Raquel 
