Contribution of citrulline to the formation of ethyl carbamate during Chinese rice wine production

Abstract

Ethyl carbamate is a well-known carcinogen and widely occurs in Chinese rice wine. To provide more clues to minimise ethyl carbamate accumulation, the levels of possible precursors of ethyl carbamate in Chinese rice wine were investigated by HPLC. Studies of the possible precursors of ethyl carbamate in Chinese raw rice wine with various additives and treatments indicated that significant amounts of urea can account for ethyl carbamate formation. It was also recognised that citrulline is another important precursor that significantly affects ethyl carbamate production during the boiling procedure used in the Chinese rice wine manufacturing process. Besides urea and citrulline, arginine was also found to be an indirect ethyl carbamate precursor due to its ability to form urea and citrulline by microorganism metabolism.

Keywords:

• Chinese rice wine
• ethyl carbamate
• precursor
• urea
• citrulline

Funding

This study is supported by the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China [973 Programs, grant number 2012CB720802], the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China [973 Programs, grant number 2013CB733602], the Key Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 31130043], the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 31171736], the Program of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities [111 Project, grant number 111-2-06], and a Project Funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.