ABSTRACT
Most wines are produced from grape; however other fruits or combinations of fruits can also be good sources of wine. The aim of this study is to compare the quality of mixed fruit wines obtained from ripe and over-ripe Carica papaya and Ananas comosus. The ripe and over-ripe fruits were purchased from New Benin Market in Benin City. Some were then left on the bench to become over-ripe, they were washed, sterilized, peeled and the juice was extracted using mortar and pestle. The juice obtained was then subjected to controlled primary and secondary fermentation using Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The wine was then filtered and left to age. Aliquots of samples was collected in a beaker for analysis of pH, total dissolved solids, specific gravity, alcohol content, presence of sugar, titratable acidity and organoleptic properties. The results obtained at the end of 6, 21 and 31 days of fermentation. pH values for over- ripe mixed fruit wine gave the following wines for 6,21 and 31 days respectively pH (4.55±0.10 to 3.57±0.025 to 4.17±0.029),total dissolved solids(2.33±0.55 to 2.00±1.01±0.01), specific gravity(1.019±0.008 to 1.016±0.006 to 1.01±0.01), titratable acidity(3.62±0.22 to 5.14±0.19 to 3.95±0.567), alcohol content%(2.0 to 0.4 to 0.4),presence of sugar(reducing sugars present, monosaccharide’s present, fructose present, and carbohydrates present) and organoleptic properties for colour (yellow to pale yellow to dark yellow colour), odour(fresh smell to a foul smell to a sweet smell) and taste(3.0). Results for ripe mixed fruit wine are as follows pH (3.53±0.029 to 2.97±0.0029 to 4.03 ±0.029),total dissolved solids(1.83±0.51 to 7.53±1.36 to 4.07±0.50),specific gravity(1.017± 0.006 to 1.023±0.006 to 1.00± 0.01),titratable acidity(3.67±0.32 to 3.87±0.89 to 3.86±1.34), alcohol content%(2.0 to 2.0 to 0.2),presence of sugar(reducing sugars present, disaccharides present, fructose present, and carbohydrates present) and organoleptic properties for colour (reddish yellow to pale yellow to light yellow colour), odour (fresh smell to a foul smell to a sweet smell) and taste(2.5).Both wines were acidic and revealed low pH values The total dissolved solid of the over-mixed fruit wine decreased during the period of fermentation, while it increased in the ripe mixed fruit wine. The specific gravity of both wines decreased during the fermentation period. The titratable acidity also increased in both wines followed by a decreased in the alcohol percentage. Both wines had all sugars present expect for the ripe mixed fruit wine which had monosaccharide absent which indicates the presence of a disaccharides. In conclusion, this study shows that the mixed fruit wine obtained from over-ripe and ripe Carica papaya and Ananas comosus possess good wine quality which is good for consumption. Fruit wine production encourages the use of locally available fruits asides from grape for the production of wine to generate income and also reduce dependency on foreign and imported wine.
