In Brazil, the use of cashew apple (Anacardium occidentale L.) to obtain new products by biotechnological process represents an important alternative to avoid wastage of a large quantity of this fruit, which reaches about 85% of the annual production of 1 million tons. This work focuses on the development of an alcoholic product obtained by the fermentation of cashew apple juice. The inoculation with two different strains of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae viz. SCP and SCT, were standardized to a concentration of 10(7 )cells ml(-1). Each inoculum was added to 1,500 ml of cashew must. Fermentation was performed at 28 ± 3°C and aliquots were withdrawn every 24 h to monitor soluble sugar concentrations, pH, and dry matter contents. The volatile compounds in fermented products were analyzed using the gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) system. After 6 days, the fermentation process was completed, cells removed by filtration and centrifugation, and the products were stabilized under refrigeration for a period of 20 days. The stabilized products were stored in glass bottles and pasteurized at 60 ± 5°C/30 min. Both fermented products contained ethanol concentration above 6% (v v(-1)) while methanol was not detected and total acidity was below 90 mEq l(-1), representing a pH of 3.8-3.9. The volatile compounds were characterized by the presence of aldehyde (butyl aldehyde diethyl acetal, 2,4-dimethyl-hepta-2,4-dienal, and 2-methyl-2-pentenal) and ester (ethyl α-methylbutyrate) representing fruity aroma. The strain SCT was found to be better and efficient and this produced 10% more alcohol over that of strain SCP.

Flavonoids constitute a diverse group of secondary metabolites which are present in both fruits and wines. The contents of some of the most prominent compounds such as catechin and epicatechin are little known in wines prepared from tropical fruits. In this context, this study was aimed to determine catechin and epicatechin contents in wines processed from 7 tropical fruits (cajá-umbu, cashew apple, mangaba, pineapple, siriguela, sugar apple and umbu), by HPLC-DAD system. Moreover the total phenolic compounds content was also determined in these wines and compared to those of the commercial wines obtained from grapes and cashew apple. The wines produced in this work contained higher total phenolic compounds contents when compared to that of the grape wines. The higher values of total phenolic compounds were found in wines elaborated from cajá-umbu (123.4 mg·mL −1 GAE) and from cashew (87.5 mg·mL −1 GAE). However, higher contents of catechin and epicatechin were found in wines obtained from mangaba (14.01 ± 0.37 mg·L −1 , 22.66 ± 1.03 mg·L −1 ), siriguela (9.97 ± 0.28, 4.38 ± 0.45) and cashew apple (7.46 ± 0.18, 1.30 ± 0.17) fruits. The present work indicates that the use of exotic tropical fruits is feasible in developing wines which could serve as functional foods as these contain appreciable quantities of catechin and epicatechin.

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