Assessing the authenticity of absinthe using sensory evaluation and HPTLC analysis of the bitter principle absinthin

Absinthe is a spirit drink that owes its bitter taste to substances found in the wormwood plant (Artemisia absinthium L.). The prohibition against absinthe has recently been annulled, giving rise to numerous inferior products that lack the organoleptic characteristics of wormwood. The monoterpene thujone, which occurs in the essential oil fraction of wormwood, has previously been used as a marker substance to confirm the authenticity of absinthe. However, thujone possesses adverse toxicological properties; thus modern procedures have been developed to remove this substance from absinthe. In addition, thujone-free wormwood is also available from certain cultivation areas.This study is the first to use sensory evaluation of wormwood taste, louche effect, and bitterness in order to classify absinthes. This study also introduces a simple, fast, and sensitive procedure using high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) to assess the levels of absinthin, a characteristic bitter substance found in wormwood. Results of this study demonstrate a strong correlation between the concentration of wormwood and the organoleptically determined bitterness value (R = 0.75).