Effect of the sorghum concentration on the sensory and chemical properties of banana beer (Tonto)

Abstract

Tonto continue to be a beer of choice for many individuals in the East African community. In Uganda, just like in Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania and Burundi, banana beer production has been practiced for years. Many studies have underlined the social importance of the brew to the communities and the economic impact to farmers and producers of banana. However the relationship of sorghum concentration and banana beer preparation is not completely understood. The determination of the impact of the sorghum concentration on the chemical and sensory properties of banana beer can help determine the banana juice-sorghum combination that will yield the most preferred beverage. For this purpose different levels of roasted coarsely ground sorghum (0, 5, 7.5 and 10% w/v) were mixed with banana juice and natural fermentation was allowed to take place. The addition of sorghum had an impact on the sugar content with 7.42% sugars as glucose in the control as opposed to the samples containing sorghum that were containing an average of 15.90 % sugars as glucose before the fermentation process. Results obtained at the end of the fermentation indicated that the TSS in all the samples ranged from 8.1-9.2° Brix, pH of 4.20-4.53, titratable acidity 0.30-0.53 g/100ml citric acid, 4.82-5.09% sugars as glucose and the samples with 10 % had the highest score in terms of color and appearance while the one with 7.5% had the highest score in terms of taste and the one of 5% in terms of overall acceptability. The highest scores in all the sensory parameters were observed in samples containing sorghum. Based on these findings the concentration of 5% w/v sorghum could be recommended in the production process.