Natural Product Radiance, Vol. 8(4), 2009, pp.

374-379 Research Paper

Effect of initial sugar concentration on the physico-chemical

characteristics and sensory qualities of cashew apple wine
B L Attri
Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture, Regional Station
Mukteshwar- 263 138, Uttarakhand, India
E-mail: attribl_nrcwa@rediffmail.com
Received 10 April 2009; Accepted 9 June 2009

Abstract
The technique for the production of wine from nutritious cashew apple has been
standardized. The extracted cashew apple juice was treated with 0.5% food grade gelatin during
heating for reducing the tannin contents. The TSS of the treated juice was ameliorated with sugar
syrup and 0.1% diammonium hydrogen phosphate (as nitrogen source) to prepare the must. The
fermentation rate of the must was found better for a week and reduced thereafter due to higher
concentration of alcohol and low fermentation efficiency of the yeast. The fermentation carried out
by the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. ellipsoideus was completed in 15 days. After
storing the base wine for six months the physico-chemical characteristics and sensory quality of the
product was assessed. The retention of ascorbic acid was better in wine with higher initial sugar
concentration (ISC) whereas the titrable acidity, volatile acidity, total esters and total phenols
increased and aldehydes decreased with higher initial sugar concentration. The sensory quality of
the cashew apple wine revealed that the product having 8.25% alcohol had an edge over other
treatments. Flow diagram for wine production as well as cost of production of the product has also
been described in the paper.
Keywords: Cashew, Anacardium occidentale, Cashew apple, Wine, Physico-chemical
Cashew apple
characteristics, Initial Sugar Concentration, Fermentation, Sensory quality.
IPC code; Int. cl.8—C12G 1/00 one of the richest sources of ascorbic acid,
B complex and other vitamins. As the
Introduction group of islands, which are situated cashew apple is highly nutritious, it can
Cashew (Anacardium between 10o 31’ and 13o 42’ North latitude be utilized for the preparation of different
occidentale Linn.) belonging to family and 92o 14’ and 94o 16’ East longitude in non-fermented and fermented products,
Anacardiaceae is a native of South America the South East Bay of Bengal, a scattered viz. juice, syrup, jam, candy, chutney,
and is considered as ‘Gold Mine’ of the planting of cashew is also available. The pickle, liquor, wine, brandy, vinegar
wasteland as it requires low inputs for main by-product of the cashew nut is its etc3-5.
production. It is one of the most important false peduncle (false fruit) called cashew The juice is astringent due to the
plantation crops earning huge foreign apple to which the kidney shaped nut is presence of tannins and anacardic acid
exchange through its kernel and cashew attached. For every tonne of cashew nut which causes biting sensation on tongue
nut shell liquid (CNSL). In India it is about 10-15 tonnes of cashew apple is and throat when the apple is eaten as such.
mostly found growing in 8 states including produced but without its much use it is Leucodelphinidin has been identified as
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Goa, spoiled in the orchards under the trees. the major polyphenolic constituent of
Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Cashew apple has been found to cure a cashew apple juice6. Because of very high
Bengal and North-Eastern states1. It covers number of chronic diseases like scurvy, tannin contents in cashew apple juice, it
an area of about 8.68 lakh hectare with diarrhoea, uterine complaints, dropsy, is not possible to ferment the same
an annual nut production of about 6.65 cholera and rheumatism. It is enriched without treating the juice with any fining
lakh tonnes2. In Andaman and Nicobar with sugars, minerals and vitamins. It is substance like gelatin. In Goa, the fenni—

374 Natural Product Radiance


a fermented beverage from cashew apple
juice is very popular since many years as
this fruit was first introduced here by
Portuguese. Due to lack of awareness
among people about the nutritional status
of cashew apple and suitable technology,
thousands of tonnes of this fruit is spoiled
every year. The apple is highly perishable
and can’t be stored for more than a week
even at low temperature. To overcome the
problem of spoilage of the apple, the
present investigations were carried out for
the standardization of technique for the
preparation of wine from cashew apple
juice. The production of wine involves
standardization of initial sugar
concentration, inoculum level and
temperature of the must prepared during
fermentation. The results obtained on the
effect of initial sugar concentration of the
must are presented in this paper.
Materials and Methods
Cashew apple collection
The ripened cashew apple (cv
‘Andaman Local’) was collected from the
orchard of the Central Agricultural
Research Institute, Port Blair. Apart from
‘Andaman Local’ a number of other
cultivars, viz. ‘Ansur Early’, ‘Tree No. 121’,
‘Baptala Tree No. 273’ and ‘Baptala Tree
No. 1’ are growing in the islands. Out of
them ‘Andaman Local’ is mainly used for
preparation of various products including
wine as it is available for longer duration
with better keeping quality. After sorting
out and washing, the juice was extracted
manually by pressing the cashew apple in
muslin cloth.
Physico-chemical analysis of cashew
apple and its juice
The cashew apple as well as the
Vol 8(4) July-August 2009
Research Paper
extracted juice was analyzed for various contents were determined as described
physico-chemical characteristics, viz. apple above. The alcohol (%) was estimated by
and nut weight, total soluble solids (oB), standard method given by Caputi et al8.
titrable acidity (%), ascorbic acid (mg/ The volatile acidity (% acetic acid) was
100g fruit) contents by standard methods determined by a method of Pilone et al9
as described by Ranganna7. whereas aldehydes and esters by the
methods described by Amerine and
Preparation of must Ough10 and Libraty11. For sensory quality
The extracted cashew apple juice of cashew apple wine the members of the
was heated to 85o C along with 0.5% food selected panel were asked to give score
grade gelatin to reduce the tannins. The out of 20 for various parameters like
tannins settled down as sediments were colour and appearance, body, taste and
separated out. The initial TSS of the treated aroma. The available data were analysed
juice was raised to different levels, viz. in a Completely Randomized Block Design
20 (CW1), 22 (CW2) and 24o B (CW3) by (CRBD) as described by Panse and
adding 70% sugar syrup. The must was Sukhatme12.
kept in glass containers containing 0.1%
diammonium hydrogen phosphate Cost of production of wine
(DAHP) as nitrogen source for yeast and The cost of production of cashew
potassium metabisulphite (KMS) @100 apple wine was also calculated keeping
ppm to inhibit the growth of undesirable in view the rates of different items
microbes. required during the fermentation and
thereafter. The overhead charges as well
Fermentation as additional charges on fermentation
An active culture of were also added along with sales tax and
Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. profit of the producer.
ellipsoideus @5% was added for
fermentation. After the fermentation it was Results and Discussion
siphoned, filtered, filled in glass From the composition of the
containers up to the top and aged for cashew apple (Table 1) it was found that
six months at ambient temperature the cashew apple having weight of 72.16g
(28-30oC). The flow diagram for the has a nut of 7.31g. The nut to apple ratio
preparation of the cashew apple wine has was 11.28 with juice per cent of 66.13,
also been given in Fig. 4. After six months ascorbic acid content of 209.76 mg/100g.
the matured cashew apple wine of The physico-chemical characteristics of
different treatments was analyzed for ‘Andaman Local’ were comparatively
various physico-chemical characteristics better than other varieties growing in
and sensory quality. different parts as reported by Kundu and
Ghosh13, Sena et al14, Sapkal et al15 and
Physico-chemical and sensory Hallad et al16.
quality analysis of wine The fermentation rate (fall of
The total soluble solids (TSS), TSS/24h) in all the treatments was higher
titrable acidity, pH and ascorbic acid for a week which was found to decrease
375
Research Paper

thereafter (Fig. 1). Further, with the Table 1 : Composition of cashew apple fruit cv. ‘Andaman Local’
increase in the initial sugar concentration
the fermentation rate was decreased which S. No. Constituents Average (Mean ± SD)
indicated that the higher sugar 1. Wt of cashew apple (g) 72.16 ± 2.02
concentration had an adverse effect on the 2. Wt of nut (g) 7.31 ± 0.09
fermentation efficiency of the yeast. The 3. Nut: Apple ratio 11.28 ± 0.23
fermentation efficiency of the yeast was 4. Moisture in apple (%) 84.81 ± 0.81
found between 57.94 to 61.01% which 5. Juice (%) 66.13 ± 1.47
was comparatively low as the tannin 6. TSS (oB) 10.00 ± 1.00
contents in the cashew apple juice and 7. Acidity (%) 0.314 ± 0.09
initial sugar concentration may had an 8. Brix acid ratio 31.28 ± 0.58
adverse effect on the efficiency of the yeast 9. Ascorbic acid (mg/100g) 209.76 ± 7.26
(Fig. 2). However, the fermentation rate 10. Tannins (%) 0.40 ± 0.04
indicated that pre-requisites for proper 11. Specific gravity of juice (w/v) 1.069 ± 0.019
alcoholic fermentation such as yeast
culture and proper amount of nitrogen in
30
the must are met as recommended by Azad
Total soluble solids (°B)

et al 17. The decline in the rate of 25

fermentation towards the completion of 20

CW1
fermentation may be due to more alcohol 15 CW2
production which inhibited the CW3
10
fermentation efficiency of the yeast18.
Among various treatments there 5

was less than 50% utilization of the total 0

soluble solids by the yeast for conversion 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

into alcohol. The titrable acidity increased Days

with the increase in the initial TSS whereas
the pH was found in corroboration with Fig. 1: Fermentation rate (Fall in TSS/24 h) in different
sugar concentrations in cashew apple juice
the acidity. The increase in the acidity with
the increase in initial sugar concentration
(ISC) may be due to more alcohol
production. The ascorbic acid contents
Fermentation efficiency (%)

61.5
varied from 86.77 to 101.96 mg/100 ml 61
in different treatments. Although, there 60.5
60
was drastic reduction in ascorbic acid due 59.5
to heating the cashew apple juice but 59
58.5
retention was better with higher initial 58
57.5
sugar contents which may have protected
57
it. Retention of ascorbic acid in the 56.5
56
product is desirable as it is an anti- CW1 CW2 CW3
oxidant. The alcohol (%) was recorded Treatments
significantly higher with higher ISC in the
must. Like titrable acidity (%CA) the Fig. 2: Effect of initial sugar concentration on fermentation efficiency of yeast

376 Natural Product Radiance

 Research Paper

Table 2 : Physico-chemical characteristics and overall quality of cashew apple wine

Treatment TSS (oB) Acidity pH Ascorbic acid Alcohol Volatile Aldeh- Total Total
(% CA) (mg/100ml) (% v/v) acidity ydes esters phenols
(%AA) (mg/l) (mg/l) (mg/l)

CW1(20oB) 12.4 0.520 4.14 86.77 7.81 0.019 143.10 82.08 152.08
CW2 (22oB) 12.8 0.580 4.00 90.70 8.25 0.022 134.41 102.84 167.62
CW3 (24oB) 13.2 0.660 3.90 101.96 8.90 0.026 106.80 108.99 175.51
CD at 5% 0.265 0.013 0.045 1.61 0.223 0.002 1.450 0.793 2.44

volatile acidity (%AA) was also higher in

the treatments having more initial TSS. A 17
16.5
significant effect of ISC on aldehydes, total
16
esters and phenols was recorded. The Score (out of 20 )
15.5
aldehydes were found to decrease whereas 15
the esters and total phenols recorded an 14.5

increase with increase in the initial sugar 14

13.5
concentration in the must (Table 2).
13
Higher alcohol production may have 12.5
reduced the aldehydes and increased the CW1 CW2 CW3

esters and total phenolic constituents in Treatments

the wine. Fig. 3 : Sensory quality of cashew apple wine

In the sensory quality of cashew
apple wine, CW2 had an edge over the other Table 3 : Cost of production of cashew apple wine
treatments (Fig. 3). Subbarao 19 has
described the composition of fermented S. No. Material required Quantity Rate (Rs.) Amount (Rs.)
cashew apple juice. The cashew apple
1. Cashew apple* 100 kg 0.50/kg 50.00
juice having TSS of 12.4oB was fermented 2. Juice extraction One man day 50/day 50.00
without addition of sugar because of 3. Sugar 10 kg 17/kg 170.00
which the per cent alcohol of the wine 4. Di-ammonium 70 g - 30.00
was very low. Among other characteristics hydrogen phosphate
there is variation which may be due to 5. Potassium metabisulphite (KMS) 15 g - 30.00
6. Bottles (650 ml)** 100 3.00/bottle 300.00
the higher soluble solids in the cashew 7. Crown corks 100 0.20/cork 20.00
apple must in the present study. Reports 8. Total cost - - 650.00
on cashew apple wine also revealed that 9. Overhead charges @30% - - 195.00
aldehydes, esters, titrable acidity, volatile 10. Additional charges @ 20% in fermentation - - 130.00
acidity and phenols increased with 11. Excise duty - 3.00/bottle 300.00
12. Grand total - - 1275.00
increase in the TSS of the must. Higher 13. Sales tax @ 30% - - 382.50
aldehydes in the wine had a negative 1657.50
influence on the acceptability. Sweet wines 14. Profit @ 40% - - 663.00
5 2320.50
were preferred to hard or soft wines .
Further, Mohanty et al20 also prepared 15. Sale price/bottle - - 23.20
cashew wine with 7% alcohol which * Juice yield is about 70% in cashew apple; ** The cost of the bottle is based on non returnable basis
Vol 8(4) July-August 2009 377
Research Paper

although was found acceptable as CASHEW APPLE

alcoholic beverage but significant
differences were found in comparison to

W
grape wine because of very high tannin SORTING & WASHING
content. The method for fenni (brandy)
production as well as its characteristics

W
has been described by Patel et al21. The JUICE EXTRACTION
physico-chemical characteristics and
W POMACE AS
sensory quality of fenni are significantly ANIMAL FEED

W
different as it is prepared by addition of HEATING & GELATIN
distilled wine in the final product. TREATMENT @ 0.5%
For developing any technique/
technology most important is the cost of

W
production of the final product. It has AMELIORATION OF TSS DAHP @ 0.1% &
W KMS @ 100ppm
WITH SUGAR SYRUP
been calculated for a small scale
(Table 3) which indicated that the product W 5% YEAST CULTURE

W
can be sold at reasonable cost with good FERMENTATION
profit. The cost calculated for the product
(Rs. 23.20/650ml/bottle) is quite low for
W

low alcoholic beverage available in the SIPHONING

market. This cost can further be reduced
when production will be on commercial
W

scale. The low cost of the cashew apple FILTRATION

wine may be due to the availability of raw
material at very low cost. In other wines
W

available in the market due to addition of AGEING

spices and medicinal herbs the final cost

of the product is very high.
W

ANALYSIS

Conclusion
It is concluded that for the
fermentation of the treated juice initial
sugar concentration (ISC) played an
important role. The tannin contents
present in the juice which create
hindrance in the fermentation can be
reduced significantly by the addition of
fining agent like gelatin. The fermentation
efficiency of the yeast decreased with
increase in the ISC. The wine prepared
from the initial sugar concentration (TSS)
of 22oB had better acceptability which can
further be improved if it is made as sweet
378
Fig. 4 : Flow diagram for cashew apple wine preparation
wine. The physico-chemical
characteristics of wine are comparable to
the similar fermented beverages. The
nutritious as well as medicinally important
cashew apple had a good future if it is
processed on commercial scale. The cost
of production of the final product is also
quite low as compared to the similar
products available at different places in
the country. In Andaman and Nicobar
group of islands, if this fruit is processed
into wine, not only the problem of fruit
spoilage can be solved but also the visitors
as well as islanders can have some quality
and nutritive products, farmers/producers
can earn remunerative returns for their
produce and the islanders will have better
job opportunities.
Acknowledgements
The author is highly grateful to
Dr A. K. Bandyopadhyaya, the then
Natural Product Radiance

Director, CARI, Port Blair for providing 8. Capauti A, Ucda Jr M and Brown T,
necessary facilities and constant Spectrophotometric determination of ethanol
in wine, Am J Enol Vitic, 1968, 19,
encouragement to carryout the present 160-165.
investigations.
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