A hybrid sensing system combining simultaneous optical and electrochemical measurements: Application to beer discrimination

Abstract

A hybrid sensing system, which combines simultaneous cyclic voltammetric (CV) and UV-vis absorbance measurements using a commercial carbon screen-printed electrode and a set of optical fibres in disposable cuvettes, is proposed. The hybrid system approach was applied to 27 samples of recognized beer brands, improving the classification power as compared to only voltammetric or only spectrophotometric measurements. The developed partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) model was able to discriminate between five types of beer (lager, marzen, black/stout, alcohol-free and white/ale). The model was also successfully applied to 28 beer samples of white-label brands sold in local supermarkets, demonstrating their similarity to recognized brand beers.

Keywords: Beer discrimination; Hybrid sensing system; Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA); UV–Vis absorbance; Voltammetry.