Production of fruit wine using a wild strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae isolated from fresh palm wine for sustainable food security

Abstract

The problems of post-harvest losses in the developing world have been of severe concerns especially when food security for the citizenry cannot be guaranteed. Thus, new means of the conversion of some of the periodic produce to novel stable products is an exceptional development. In this study, we carried out the production of wine from citrus fruits (Citrus sinensis) and Pineapple fruits (Ananas Comosus) using wild strains of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The Saccharoymces cerevisiae was isolated from fresh palm wine and identified using microscopic examination, morphological and biochemical characteristics. Pure yeast isolates were inoculated into sterile volumes of 200 ml and 500 ml of the orange and pineapple juice respectively and incubated for eight days. At regular intervals, we assessed some of the intrinsic properties of wine, such as pH, sulphur dioxide, titratable acidity (TA). From the results obtained, all the parameters measured were within the permissible limits for fruit wine. The mean pH values of orange and pineapple juice in 200ml and 500ml were between 4.45± 0.16 and 4.86±0.50; while the mean Sulphur dioxide SO (ppm) were 18.36±0.20 - 39.49±3.68 respectively. The titratable acidity (TA) obtained was between 0.63±0.11 - 1.03±0.59, respectively. This study had shown that our strain of wild type of yeast could be used for producing homebrew fruit wine and may not present any hazard to the consumers.