W(h)ining in Chemistry!

W(h)ining in Chemistry!
September 30, 2008


Dr.  Lammela's Instrumental Analysis students are w(h)ining in lab this semester!  All students are making wine and quantifying the chemical changes that occur during fermentation and the aging process.  Some changes are obvious:  sugar is converted into alcohol.  Other changes may be more subtle:  How much does the polyphenols change?  How does the pH change?  How does the sodium ion concentration change?  Some of these changes may have health inplications.  Resveratrol, a polyphenol, has been implicated in many studies as a preventative for cardiac diseases.  Sodium in one's diet is persistently a nutritional concern.  Even the alcohol itself may have health benefits (in moderation, of course).

Through this four-week project, the students will learn the analytical techniques needed to study their assigned components and learn how to apply these skills to a non-trivial system: wine!  They will present their results at the Math/Science poster session on November 14th.