15 - Traditional Fermented Alcoholic Beverages of Rwanda (Ikigage, Urwagwa, and Kanyanga): Production and Preservation

Abstract

Long before the invention of pasteurization and sterilization, humans have used alcoholic fermentation as a traditional technology for preserving beverages, and every culture has a large variety of fermented beverages as part of its diet. In Rwanda, local fermentable raw materials, such as cereals (sorghum, finger millet, and maize) and banana fruit have been used for centuries to produce traditional alcoholic beverages commonly known as Urwagwa, Ikigage, and Kanyanga. Apart from their sociocultural importance, these home-brewed traditional beverages constitute a source of incomes for the local producers. Investigations on the microbiological and biochemical characterization of some of these traditional beverages as well as their manufacturing process have already been conducted, although they are still in the preliminary stages. The purpose of this chapter is to document the production processes of these traditional Rwandan alcoholic beverages and to highlight, where appropriate, the technological advances made, as well as to suggest what could be done for improving the production process and preserving the traditional alcoholic beverages of Rwanda for the future generation.