Determination of ethanol, volatile fatty acids, lactic and succinic acids in fermentation liquids by gas chromatography

Abstract A rapid and simple quantitative method was developed to determine, by gas chromatography, the concentrations in fermentation liquids of ethanol, the C 2 ‐C 6 volatile fatty acids, and lactic and succinic acids. Aqueous samples were acidified with 250μlml −1 metaphosphoric acid (5:1 ratio), centrifuged, and injected directly on to a column containing a porous aromatic polymer (Chromosorb 101) maintained at 200°C in a gas chromatograph fitted with a flame ionisation detector. It was unnecessary to purify samples further before injection, although distillation and ion‐exchange methods were examined. Derivatisation of lactic and succinic acids before injection was not necessary, but the lowest level of detection of these two relatively non‐volatile acids was about four times greater than that for the volatile fatty acids. The method described was suitable for the analysis of rumen fluid, methane digester fluid, silage extracts and other anaerobic fermentation fluids. The relative retention times are given for 23 organic acids and six other fermentation end‐products.