Impact of Sugar Type Addition and Fermentation Temperature on Pomegranate Alcoholic Beverage Production and Characteristics

Abstract

The present study focuses on the production of pomegranate alcoholic beverage (PAB) from juice of the Wonderful variety. The effect of fermentation temperature (15 and 25 °C) and type of sugar added (adjustment to 20 °Brix) on the physicochemical characteristics, bioactive compounds, and volatile composition were studied. Sucrose, concentrated pomegranate juice, concentrated grape juice, and honey were used to increase the initial sugar content. The produced PABs contained ethanol in concentrations ranging from 7.9 to 10.0% v/v and glycerol from 4.8 to 6.1 g L−1. A decrease in total phenolics content, free radical-scavenging activity, and total monomeric anthocyanin content was observed following fermentation. Total flavonoids content appeared to increase after fermentation only in the cases of concentrated pomegranate and grape juice addition. In general, 22 volatile compounds were identified in PABs (13 esters, 2 fatty acids, and 7 alcohols). Major compounds detected were 3-methyl-1-butanol, 2-methyl-1-butanol, 2-phenylethanol, and ethyl acetate. These findings demonstrate the production prospect of PABs with increased ethanol content, while elaborating on the importance of fermentation temperature and the differences between the selected types of added sugars on end-product composition.

Aroma profiles of sweet cherry juice fermented by different lactic acid bacteria determined through integrated analysis of electronic nose and gas chromatography–ion mobility spectrometry

“… Cai et al (2019) revealed that throughout the liquor brewing process, more ethyl acetate was produced during fermentation and became a crucial volatile component. Ethyl acetate was also identified as one of the most abundant esters in pomegranate alcoholic beverages, which was detected in all fermented samples ( Kokkinomagoulos et al, 2020 , 2021 ). In the present study, two esters (ethyl acetate and butyl acetate) were identified, which exhibited a slight increase after fermentation.…”

“…They further explored the effects of fermentation temperature and the type of sugar added to the pomegranate alcoholic beverage. The major volatile compounds in the pomegranate alcoholic beverage, such as 3-methyl-1-butanol and 2-methyl-1-butanol, were detected by GC–MS ( Kokkinomagoulos et al, 2021 ). Bontsidis et al (2021) fermented chokeberry juice by Lactobacillus paracasei and analyzed the change in volatile compounds using GC–MS.…”

Application of Cyclocarya paliurus–Kiwifruit Composite Fermented to Enhance Antioxidant Capacity, Flavor, and Sensory Characteristics of Kiwi Wine

“…At the end of alcohol fermentation, the alcohol content was 9.60 vol.%. The addition of sucrose is an important way to increase the ABV of C. paliurus –kiwi wine [ 33 ]. During the resting process, the concentration of alcohol content remained the same.…”