Artisanal alcoholic beverages made with Vitis tiliifolia grape in Mexico

Abstract

In- Mexico, in addition to the wine produced from the Vitis vinifera grape, alcoholic beverages are produced from Vitis tiliifolia; however, its production and physical-chemical characteristics have been little studied. Therefore, the objectives of this work were to define some socioeconomic aspects of the producers of these alcoholic beverages and to characterize the physical and chemical properties of such beverages. Producers of artisanal alcoholic beverages made with V. tiliifolia in Naolinco, Veracruz, Mexico, were interviewed about the social and economic aspects related to their production. PH, acidity, total soluble solids, total sugars and alcohol percentage in 39 different alcoholic beverages were determined, and five other drinks were compared with the semi-sweet Italian wine known as Lambrusco in terms of phenol, flavonoid, anthocyanin, and tannin contents, as well as antioxidant capacity. According to the survey, all the grapes used in making the beverages were harvested from wild plants with variable fruit quality. The waste generated by V. tiliifolia beverage production is not regulated by the government and its environmental impact is unknown. Women who make alcoholic beverages prefer to buy the grapes, while men generally harvest the fruit themselves. In the V. tiliifolia beverages, total reducing sugars and total soluble solids were widely variable, indicating that some fruits were not mature at harvest. The total acidity of the V. tiliifolia beverages was low with respect to that reported in V. vinifera wines. The flavonoid concentration in one V. tiliifolia beverage was higher than in the Lambrusco wine.