Abstract

In this study the total components of the litchi juice and litchi wine in the brewing process were analyzed with both a low temperature (13-16 °C) and a long time (8-10 days) for fermentation. 161.4 g/l total sugar, 2.2 g/l total acids and a high content of Vitamin C (354.12 mg/l) and K (1251.8 mg/l) were found in litchi juice and highly dried extract (25.6 g/l), low volatile acid (0.36 g/l) and low higher alcohols (0.048 g/l) were identified in the young litchi wine. The total free amino acid content in litchi wine (784.1 mg/l) was similar to that of grape wine (700-1300 mg/l). However the content of each single kind of amino acid in litchi wine was all at an average level (less than 50 mg/l). In total, 33 kinds of aroma compounds were identified in litchi wine by liquid-liquid extraction and GC/MS analysis, including 16 esters, 5 alcohols, 4 acids, 2 ketones, 1 phenol and 4 other chemicals. Ethyl octanoate (34.82%), ethyl decylate (15.41%), acetic ester (11.36%), ethyl hexoate (7.14%), acetic isopentyl ester (4.72%) and citronel ethyl acetate (1.94%) were the main constituents, which covered 75.39% and 93.03% of the total compounds and ester compounds, respectively. Content of higher alcohols was only 7.85%. A very interesting phenomenon was found in that no matter how much sulfurous acid was added and how much total SO₂ content was observed in litchi juice or wine, the measured free state SO₂ content was always below 10 ppm, which was quite different from that of grape wine.

Submitted: January 28, 2008 · Accepted: April 24, 2008 · Published: June 17, 2008

Recommended Citation

Zeng, Xin An; Chen, Xiao Dong; Qin, Frank G.F.; and Zhang, Lu (2008) "Composition Analysis of Litchi Juice and Litchi Wine," International Journal of Food Engineering: Vol. 4 : Iss. 4, Article 7.
DOI: 10.2202/1556-3758.1379
Available at: http://www.bepress.com/ijfe/vol4/iss4/art7