Caracterização do mel e hidromel produzido visando a produção de vinagre de mel

Abstract

The honey, a natural sugar substance, produced by the bees from the specie Apis mellífera, it is the single product including a sweetener power, which can be destined for direct consumption and/or stocked as such and utilized as raw material for several nutritious products. The honey has pertinent importance among all the primary products produced and which collaborate with the growth of agro-business in the city of Bagé. Less than the totality of the honey produced at the city of Bagé, plus neighboring municipalities, it is commercialized in natura which restrains aggregation from the valor towards this fine product. Part of this honey is originally from regions presenting native forest, as well as common ordinary vegetation featured from the pampa gaucho region, providing the honey a darker coloration. This honey does not offer commercial value, such as the lighter honey. For that reason, as a possibility to create new alternatives to benefit the honey productive chain, this paper aims to characterize the honey, produce and characterize the honey alcoholic fermented and consequently develop the acetic fermentation of the mead on the way to obtain the honey vinegar. The honey characterization analysis included those required by the legislation, as moisture, reducing sugars, apparent sucrose, insoluble solids, minerals, acidity, diastase index and hidroximetilfurfural. Every value founded was in accordance to the Brazilian legislation. As well, it was performed additional analysis of the honey coloration, soluble solids concentration, source and antioxidant potential classification. According to the analyzes, the honey sample was classified as honeydew honey or combination (honeydew and floral), dark amber color, soluble solids concentration of 78.7 ° Brixe and antioxidant potential of 12.19%.The alcoholic fermentation was held in controlled temperature of 25°C, with and without agitation of the must, where was assess the behavior of two enological yeasts. For the alcoholic fermentation, the yeast which obtained a better performance in terms of alcoholic concentration and income was the enological yeast, designated for the winemaking of red wines which obtained 12.56 ° GL and 98%, yield relative to that used for white wines that was 11.54ºGL and 84.57 %. Therefore, the mead resulted from this fermentation was utilized as raw material for acetic fermentation. The honey vinegar production was performed by two methods, the slow and the fast. By the fast method, it was obtained vinegar in thirteen days with acidity content of 6.43g.L -1. By the slow method, the honey vinegar with acidity content of 4.57 g.L-1 was obtained in twenty-one days.