Application of starter cultures in the production of Enturire ?￠???? a traditional sorghum-based alcoholic beverage

摘要

Abstract Enturire is an alcoholic sorghum- and honey-based beverage traditionally produced by spontaneous fermentation. Its fermentation process is lengthy (5?￠????7 days), does not guarantee product quality and safety and thus necessitates use of pure starter cultures. This study compared a modified production process of Enturire , with honey added at the start to the traditional one (honey added 3 days into the fermentation). The study also evaluated two starter culture combinations ( L. plantarum MNC 21 + S. cerevisiae MNC 21 Y) and ( L. plantarum MNC 21 + W. confusa MNC 20 + S. cerevisiae MNC 21Y). Microbial counts, pH, alcohol content, titratable acidity, (TA) and consumer acceptability of the Enturire were determined. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and yeast counts increased from 4?￠????6 log cfu/ml to 8?￠????9 log cfu/ml and 3?￠????4 log cfu/ml to 5?￠????8 log cfu/ml, respectively. Acidification of Enturire to pH <4.5 was significantly ( p < .05) faster (12 hr) with starter fermentations than in the modified (18 hr) and the traditional processes (31 hr). More alcohol (9.2%?￠????9.4%) was produced by the starters than the spontaneous fermentations (3.24%?￠????4.38%). The modified process without starters produced a more acceptable ( p < .05) product than the traditional process. The starters produced acceptable Enturire within 12 hr with pH, acidity, and alcohol content of about 3.8, 0.7%, and 2.5%?￠????3.5%. Both starter combinations can thus be used to produce safe and acceptable Enturire in a short time.