Chemistry
Main article: EthanolAlcohol is a general term for any organic compound in which a hydroxyl group (-O H) is bound to a carbon atom, which in turn may be bound to other carbon atoms and further hydrogens. Alcohols other than ethanol (such as propylene glycol and the sugar alcohols) appear in food and beverages. Methanol (one carbon), the propanols (three carbons giving two isomers), and the butanols (four carbons, four isomers) are all commonly found alcohols — these three toxic alcohols should never be consumed in any form.
Ethanol (CH3CH2OH) is the active ingredient in alcoholic beverages (although novelty inebriating drinks have been made from alternate alcohols such as 2-Methyl-2-butanol). When produced for use in a beverage, ethanol is always produced by means of fermentation, i.e., the metabolism of carbohydrates by certain species of yeast in the absence of oxygen.
Read more about this topic: Alcohol Consumption
Famous quotes containing the word chemistry:
“If thought makes free, so does the moral sentiment. The mixtures of spiritual chemistry refuse to be analyzed.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“...some sort of false logic has crept into our schools, for the people whom I have seen doing housework or cooking know nothing of botany or chemistry, and the people who know botany and chemistry do not cook or sweep. The conclusion seems to be, if one knows chemistry she must not cook or do housework.”
—Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards (1842–1911)
“The chemistry of dissatisfaction is as the chemistry of some marvelously potent tar. In it are the building stones of explosives, stimulants, poisons, opiates, perfumes and stenches.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)