Cinética da fermentação alcoólica na elaboração de vinho de melancia

Abstract

The objective of this work was to produce a fermented watermelon beverage, compare its composition with standards in legislation and determine some kinetic parameters of fermentation. The process was performed in batch at 28 ± 0.1°C for 20 days. The final product presented pH, total titratable acidity, soluble solids content, alcohol content and total phenolic compounds, respectively equal to 4.1, 4.45 g/L, 6.0 °Brix, 10% v/v and 677.73 mg/L, in accordance to legal standards and similar to those reported in literature for other fermented beverages. From the kinetic study, it was found that after 48 h there were no variations in concentrations of substrate, product and biomass, respectively equal to 62.2 g/L, 79.4 g/L and 20.0 g/L. The yield was 94%, productivity in the first 48 h was 1.65 g/L h. Product yield (YP/S) was equal to 0.65, the conversion factor of substrate in biomass (YX/S) was equal to 0.14 and the specific growth velocity was of 0.028 h-1. Production of the fermented watermelon beverage showed to be technically feasible, however, more studies about sensory and conservation aspects are needed to ensure safety of the product.