Production, Preservation and Shelf-Life Evaluation of Wine from Banana Fruit (Musa acuminata Colla)
Objectives: The research centred on the processing, preservation and shelf-life analysis of banana fruit wine (Musa acuminata).
Research Design: This study is based on a fully randomised two-reproduction design with average values determined for mean comparison.
Research Place and Duration: Laboratory of Food and Industrial Microbiology, Department of Microbiology, Port Harcourt University, Nigeria, September 2018 to March 2019.
Methodology: Microbiological, physicochemical and sensory evaluations were analysed utilising standard methods. For shelf life tests, sodium benzoate concentrations of 5 and 25 ppm were used. Banana 'must was analysed for 12 days at 4-day intervals, while processed wine was analysed for 25 days during storage at 5-day intervals. Results: During fermentation, there were increases in total heterotrophic counts (THCs), total coliform counts (TCCs) and fungal counts (FCs), resulting in a maximum of 5.02 THCs, 3.60 TCCs and 8.87 log10 cfu ml-1 FCs on days 4, 4 and 8 respectively. Acetobacter and Saccharomyces in wine were pronounced in storage without preservative (control). The mean pH of 'must' was 5.8±0.30 while the alcohol content on day 0 was 0.28±0.03 percent, but the mean pH was decreased as fermentation progressed while the mean alcohol content increased. Mean wine preserved pH varied significantly over storage with 5 ppm but mean control pH and 25 ppm preserved wine decreased from 3.7±0.20 on day 0 to 3.2±0.23 on day 25. Sensory qualities (overall acceptability) were most favoured on day 12, although major variations in the overall acceptability of the various wines at P=.05 occurred during shelf-life tests. The best organoleptic quality was preserved wine with 5 ppm, but 25 ppm preserved wine demonstrated the most reasonable microbial quality. Conclusion: The results indicate that banana is a strong wine-producing substrate and that 5 ppm of sodium benzoate preserved the wine's qualities. Please see the link :- https://www.journaljamb.com/index.php/JAMB/article/view/30280