Abstract: The fingerprint of Kweichow Moutai liquor was established by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and the similarity of fingerprints was evaluated by the fingerprint similarity calculation software designed by Zhejiang University based on included angle cosine. One milliliter of liquor sample was mixed with ten microliter of 2% n-pentyl acetate solution used as internal standard. One microliter of the prepared sample was injected into a GC-MS. The separation was performed on an HP-INNOWAX 19091N-113 capillary column. The precision and repeatability of the method were good as the relative standard deviation (RSD) of intra-batch was less than 5%. A total of 35 characteristic components of Kweichow Moutai liquor were identified. The fingerprints of 38 batches of Kweichow Moutai, 5 Moutai-flavor liquors produced by Kweichow Moutai Company Limited, the same manufacturer as Kweichow Moutai, and 12 other brand liquors were compared in characteristic components and similarity. The results demonstrated that different batches of Kweichow Moutai had good similarity (≥0.9), and Kweichow Moutai was differentiated from the liquors of different alcohol contents and flavors, but it was poorly distinguished from the Moutai-flavor liquors by fingerprint similarity calculation software. Therefore, only in combining characteristic components and fingerprint similarity results, Kweichow Moutai can be distinguished from other liquors. The established method offers technical basis for the identification of Kweichow Moutai.

Key words: fingerprint, identification, Kweichow Moutai liquor, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)