Palmyrah (Borassus flabellifer L.) Toddy as a Source of Vinegar Production and its Chemical Analysis

Abstract

Purpose: Vinegar is a condiment prepared by alcoholic and consequent acetic acid fermentation using different sugary and starchy materials. This can be utilized as a flavoring agent, preservative, medicine, cleaning agent and herbicide. Palmyrah toddy contains around 4-6% of alcohol which is produced in huge amounts during their season. So, this research was designed to increase the utilization of toddy by means of vinegar. Research Method: Vinegar was prepared with toddy as a substrate (5.0% of alcohol) by using Orleans, generator and optimized submerged fermentation processes. The chemical characteristics of vinegar produced from Palmyrah were determined based on SLS 168:1999. Findings: Orleans process significantly (p<0.05) reduced the time required to produce the maximum acid (4.01%) contained corn cob and activated bacteria covering gel-like structure. During the generator process over oxidation of ethanol was observed due to the high rate of aeration with the pump. Optimized conditions of submerged fermentation was exhibited as 10% inoculum size (5, 10, 20 and 30%), 30oC temperature (28, 30 and 32oC)and with shaking showed 3.96, 4.23 and 4.53% of acid production at 8th, 7th, and 5th day of fermentation respectively. Chemical characteristics of produced palmyrah vinegar complied with SLS 168:1999 as total acidity (4.32%), total solids (4.08 (w/v), alkaline oxidation value (89.6), iodine value (556) and residual ethyl alcohol (0%). The efficiency of acetic acid production by using an optimized submerged fermentation process was 92.4%. Originality/ Value: Palmyrah toddy could be used for the production of natural vinegar under optimum conditions, and further field study has to be done to apply this finding at the industrial level.