Aqueous calyxes extract of Roselle, popularly known as Zobo drink in Nigeria is a non-alcoholic local beverage widely consumed by millions of people across different socio-economic classes. However, large-scale production of zobo is hindered by the rapid deterioration of the drink if not refrigerated. Thus the aim of this research was to extend the viability of the drink by fermentation into red wine using probiotic organism Lactobacillus fermentum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Both organisms produced wines of different physicochemical properties within 24hours fermentation and with pH 3.47 - 2.76, titratable acidity; 0.236%-0.252%; Vitamin C; 5.22 mg/100 - 2.44 mg/100 and total dissolvable solids; 11.95 Mg/L - 9.97 Mg/L for Lactobacillus fermentum and pH 3.48 - 2.8, titratable acidity; 0.2% - 0.225%, Vitamin C; 8.56mg/100 - 6.33mg/100 and total dissolvable solids; 13.32 Mg/L - 9.71 Mg/L for Saccharomyces cerevisiae. There was also a gradual alcohol increase during fermentation process and at the end, both wines showed alcohol content of 5.71% and 5.61% for Lactobacillus fermentum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae respectively. Except for the alcohol content, the results shows that the formulation with the brewers yeast produced a better wine at the 12 hour fermentation time. The sensory evaluation was also conducted using a 5 judge panel on a 7 point hedonic scale and the result shows that the wine produced from fermentation by Saccharomyces cerevisiae was moderately accepted (value 3) by the panel and the mean heterotrophic microbial load of 3±0.2 × 10~3 cfu/ml indicated that formulated red wine is safe for human consumption. The outcome of this study will boost the economy of this country if adopted for large scale production as it will generate revenue that would have been lost on importation of wine.
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