Abstract

                                Sapota is a long-lived evergreen tree belonging to the family Sapotaceae. These fruits are susceptible to low temperatures and hence cannot be stored in cold storage for an extended period due to their high perishability. Fermentation is a vital method in developing value-developing value-added products from fruits with improved physicochemical and sensory quality attributes, especially flavor and nutritional constituents. The present study aimed to optimize the process parameters necessary for producing quality sapota wine for product diversification and to cater the needs of medium scale industries and sapota growers. The pressed and pulped juice, along with three different strains of yeast cultures (NCIM 3304, NCIM 3215, NCIM 3281 and natural strain), was fermented for a period of 25 days with an aging period of 2 months under room temperature (28±2 oC) and refrigerated temperature (5±2 oC). The optimized process parameters for the preparation of sapota wine were obtained from pressed juice using NCIM 3304 yeast strain with a fermentation period of 25 days and an aging period of 60 days at refrigerated conditions and recorded good physicochemical and organoleptic properties.

Key words : Sapota; Fermentation; Optimization; Refrigeration; Aging