Elaboração de bebida fermentada alcoólica de melancia

Abstract

Brazil is the world's third largest fruit producer, but it is also among the ten countries that waste the most food. In the case of fruit growing, this waste is generated mainly during harvesting and transportation, causing damage to the fruit. As an alternative for reducing these losses, the production of alcoholic fruit fermentation stands out. The aim of this work was to produce an alcoholic watermelon drink, carrying out its physical and chemical characterization and evaluating the influence of different sucrose concentrations (5%, 10% and 15%) on the process through microbial fermentation kinetics. The study showed that different concentrations of sucrose influence the physicochemical characteristics of watermelon ferment, such as acidity, alcohol content and pH. The formulation with 10% sucrose showed a favorable balance between alcohol content (11%), a significant reduction in soluble solids (5.15 °Brix final), moderate pH (4.2) and adequate levels of fixed acidity (44.5 mEq/L) and total acidity (52.5 mEq/L), demonstrating good fermentation performance and more stable chemical conditions compared to the 5% and 15% formulations, so the 10% sucrose formulation has a more favorable potential for the development of a fermented watermelon drink with good acceptance and technical compliance.