Vinegar Quality

The quality of food can be evaluated by taking into account different perspectives such as nutritional value, food safety and sensory properties. In the case of vinegar, it is usually determined by sensory properties as it may modify the overall appreciation of a meal and so it is the best tool to define the quality of the vinegar.

Overall quality of vinegars can be determined by the substrate used, the acetification conditions and ageing. For wine vinegar, the type of wine used for acetification can influence the fermentation process, for example, a wine with low residual sugar should be used to allow for adequate bacterial growth. For vinegars to be of high-quality, they must be aged in wooden barrels. The organoleptic properties that develop during ageing make the finished product highly valued (Tesfaye et al., 2003).
 

The quality of vinegar is firstly directly dependent on the quality of the raw material used. Aging plays an important role in the improvement of vinegar quality, especially for those vinegars made with a submerged culture system.