Mead features fermented by <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i> (lalvin k1-1116)

Abstract

Alcoholic beverages are produced practically in every country in the world representing a significant percentage of the economy. Mead is one of the oldest beverages and it is easily obtained by the fermentation of a mixture of honey and water. However, it is still less studied compared to other beverages and does not have industrialized production. It is prepared as a handmade product. The origin of the honey used to formulate the mead creates differences on the final product characteristics. In this study, fermentation occurred at temperatures of about 22.1 ± 0.4°C after a previous pasteurization and inoculation. Saccharomyces cerevisiae (K1-LALVIN 1116) was used to produce the mead that was prepared in order to obtain dry mead by mixing 200 g L^-1 of honey in water. For better results inorganic salts were used [(NH₄)₂SO₄: 0.2 g L^-1, (NH₄)₂HPO₄: 0.02 g L^-1]. The results at the end of the process were a mead with: 12.5 ± 0.4°GL; pH 3.33; low amounts of high alcohols and methanol and great quantity of esters, that provide a nailing flavor to the beverage. Low production cost and simplicity of the fermentation process may represent good alternative for producers using honey also as raw material in the production of mead.

Keywords: Mead, fermentation, beverage, honey, sugarcane, Saccharomyces cerevisiae

African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(2), pp. 199-204