• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.46-52
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• 2011

Wild grape juice was fermented by Gluconacetobacter hansenii TF-2 isolated from tea fungus, to develop a new acidic beverage (fermented wild grape beverage, WGB). Broth was prepared by fermentation of 11~17% (v/v) juice, and sweetened with sucrose (initial sucrose level: $10^{\circ}$ Brix). Fermentation was initiated by addition of 5% (w/v) seed gel (the pellicle of the tea fungus) which had been previously cultured in the same medium (freshjuice broth), and fermentation proceeded in the dark at $29{\pm}1^{\circ}C$ for about 15 days. The major acids produced were succinic acid, malic acid, and acetic acid. After 15 days of fermentation, the organic acid content (principally succinic acid) was 49.6 ppm in WGB 11 and 77.4 ppm in WGB 17. The free sugar content of WGB was 1063.6-1082.5 mg/mL, composed of unfermented fructose, glucose, and sucrose, in that order. The microbial inhibitory effects of the fermented beverage were most apparent when Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium) were tested; the inhibition rate was 34.46-88.00%. The new fermented beverage thus displays effective antimicrobial activity against some species of bacteria.