Utilization of tropical fruits for wine production with special emphasis on mango (Mangifera indica L.) wine

Abstract

Tropical fruits have their origin in the tropics and require rather a -tropical or subtropical climate; and do not tolerate frost. The tropical zone stretches from 23.4°North latitude to 23.4° South latitude. There are hundreds of edible tropical fruits some of which have very high export potential all over the world. Most of the tropical fruits are important sources of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals; and form a very healthy part of a diet. India is the largest producer of fruits in the world with an annual production of 46 million tons, amounting to 10% of total world production. Nearly 20-30% of the produce is generally spoiled at post-harvest stages leading to losses. There is a need to preserve and utilize or transform the surplus and unutilized fruits to valuable products like wine and other processed foods. Wines form many tropical fruits like guava, banana, custard apple, litchi, pineapple, pomegranate, mango, ber and melon have been prepared and evaluated for their acceptability. Mango (Mangifera indica L) is the most popular and the choicest fruit of India. A major portion (nearly 60-70%) of the total quantity produced is locally consumed and a sizable portion is exported to other countries. Ten varieties of mango, which are abundantly available in the region, were selected for wine production and the conditions for juice extraction were optimized. To prepare wine, the fruits were peeled and juice (must) was extracted immediately after crushing (control) and also after 10 h of pectinase treatment. The Raspuri gave the highest juice yield (600) followed by Banganpalli (570 ml/kg). The sugar content of must ranged from 15% to 18% (w/v). The recovered juice was fermented at 15°C and 20°C and the ethanol concentration of mango wine ranged from 6.3% to 8.5%. Fermentation efficacy of three yeast strains, viz. Saccharomyces cerevisiae CFTRI 101, Palm wine isolate and Baker's yeast was determined and highest score was obtained for Banganpalli wines with yeast strain S. cerevisiae CFTRI 101 followed by Alphonso and Totapuri. Pectinase enzyme treatment increased the yield of juice and ethanol production also. Optimization of fermentation conditions (like yeast strain, pectinase enzyme, pH and temperature) was carried out using response surface methodology (RSM). Production profiles of higher alcohols and other volatile compounds during wine fermentation were investigated. Total volatile composition of mango wine was determined using GC-MS and identified 33 compounds having fruity aroma characters. More volatiles were observed in wine produced from Banganpalli (343) than wine from Totapuri cultivar (320 mg/l). Polyphenols and carotenoids profiles were determined using HPLC, and antioxidant activity was evaluated using in vitro models. From physicochemical characteristics and sensory characteristics it is concluded that table wine of acceptable qualities can be prepared from mango. Further, the analyses showed that the aroma of mango wine is complex and is composed of a number of compounds, similar to grape wine.