RESEARCH ARTICLE

Preparation and Characteristics of Sugarcane Low AlcoholicDrink by Submerged Alcoholic Fermentation

Gan-Lin Chen • Feng-Jin Zheng • Bo Lin •

Tian-Shun Wang • Yang-Rui Li

Received: 8 May 2013 / Accepted: 16 July 2013

� Society for Sugar Research & Promotion 2013

Abstract A new low alcoholic drinks, was brewed from

fresh sugarcane juice using different kinds of yeast, viz.,

wine yeast, Fali yeast and thermo-tolerant yeast by sub-

merged alcoholic fermentation. The main characteristic

parameters of fermented cane juice such as alcohol content,

total sugars, total acids and reducing sugar were investi-

gated during the process of alcoholic fermentation in order

to evaluate the effect of yeasts on the quality of alcoholic

drinks. The results showed that alcoholic fermentation

period and the alcohol content of fermented cane juice

ranged from 9 to 20 days and 2.8–4.8 %, respectively.

With respect to sensory evaluation, the alcoholic drink

obtained by using wine yeast was found suitable with

yellow-brown colour, clear and brighter appearance, full

wine and cane aromas and flavor. Its soft, mild, mellow and

slightly sweet taste made it possible to be used as a bev-

erage in dines. The results of this study concerning the use

of sugarcane juice as one of raw materials could be

promising for industrial fermentations of low alcoholic

drinks production, and also provides a new approach to

process sugarcane by-products.

Keywords Sugarcane juice � Alcoholic fermentation �Low alcoholic drinks � Yeast

Introduction

Sugarcane is a field grown, thick, tough and tall perennial

grass having stalks appear like bamboo, and is the most

important sugar crop all around the world because it stores

15–18 % sucrose in its juicy stalks. In addition to making

white sugar, sugarcane juice is highly beneficial to human

health as it contains many amino acids such as aspartic

acid, alanine and citric acid; vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, and

C, niacin, riboflavin and essential nutrients such as cal-

cium, phosphorus, manganese, zinc, etc. and especially the

iron (9 mg/kg) (Huang et al. 2006; Legaz et al. 1990).

Because of having such a nutritious contents, its juice is

very important medicinally and used as a drink to prevent

and heal sore throat, cold and flu, lowering glyceric index,

fighting against prostration and breast cancer cells due to

its alkaline nature, prolonging heat and physical activity,

refreshing and energizing the body instantly as it is rich in

carbohydrates, keeping the urinary flow clear and helps the

kidneys to perform their functions smoothly and hastening

recovery from jaundice. Sugarcane juice is also an excel-

lent substitute for aerated drinks and Cola, and it is one

amongst the sweet drinks suitable for diabetic patients also

(Chen et al. 2011).

Due to health benefits, there are many kinds of prod-

ucts exploited in China recently. The fresh cane juice

drinks or compound juice with other fruit is the most

popular one amongst them. Among the different sub-

strates (apple fruit and alcohol) available for low alcohol

drinks production, sugarcane, as a prime crop in China, is

a good substrate owing to its high sugar content and easy

G.-L. Chen � B. Lin � T.-S. Wang � Y.-R. Li (&)

Sugarcane Research Center, Chinese Academy of Agricultural

Sciences/Sugarcane Research Institute/Guangxi Academy of

Agricultural Sciences/Key Laboratory of Sugarcane

Biotechnology and Genetic Improvement (Guangxi), Ministry of

Agriculture/Guangxi Key Laboratory of Sugarcane Genetic

Improvement, Nanning 530007, Guangxi, China

e-mail: liyr@gxaas.net

F.-J. Zheng

Agricultural Product Processing Research Institute, Guangxi

Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning 530007,

Guangxi, China

123

Sugar Tech

DOI 10.1007/s12355-013-0248-3

availability (Chen et al. 2011). From the industrial point

of view for ethanol production, the sucrose-based sub-

strates such as cane and sugar beet juices or molasses

present many advantages including their relative abun-

dance and renewable nature (Thomas and Kwong 2001;

Taherzadeh 1999), In Brazil, sugar cane juice and sugar

cane molasses are the substrates of choice for fuel ethanol

because of its high sugar content and availability (Wheals

et al. 1999).

Sugarcane is also a prime economic crop in southern

China (Liang et al. 2008). China is the third largest

sugarcane and sugar producing country, and produced

10.51 million tons of cane sugar in 2011–2012 milling

season. As the largest sugarcane producer of China,

Guangxi Province produced 6.94 million tons of sugar in

2011–2012 milling season, accounted for 66.5 % of the

total sugar production and almost 70 % of the cane sugar

production in China. In addition to making cane sugar and

direct drink, the sugarcane juice has high prospects for

making alcoholic drinks, and during the recent years,

because of the health fitness awareness campaigns, the

processing of sugarcane juice for making soft drinks and

other alcoholic drinks gained a major attention by

researchers (Zhang et al. 2010; Li and Xiong 2009; Chen

et al. 2011; Li et al. 2010; Beltran et al. 2008; Yu et al.

2009; Gong et al. 2011).

In the present study, different kinds of yeasts were used

to brew a new sugarcane low-alcoholic drink by submerged

alcoholic fermentation of cane juice. During the fermen-

tation processing, the alcohol content, total sugars, total

acids and reducing sugar were investigated to evaluate the

effect of yeasts on the quality of alcoholic drink, and the

sensory evaluation indicators of colour and lustre, scent

and fragrance, taste were presented for further developing

of sugarcane drinks.

Materials and Methods

Sugarcane Juice

Milling canes of sugarcane varieties ROC22 (bred in Tai-

wan) and GT series varieties bred in GXAAS, China were

selected as materials. All damaged and spoiled materials

were eliminated, and fresh healthy stalks were used. All

stalks were crushed in a mechanical crusher. The fresh

cane juice with 19�–21� brix was boiled for 10 min for

sterilisation, siphoned off using a sterilisable plastic filter

of diameter 5 mm, and then cooled at normal temperature

in range of 20–25 �C. The cooled juice was diluted with an

equal amount (for capacity-to-capacity ratio, or v/v, viz

1:1) of sterilised pure water and used for alcoholic fer-

mentation (Chen et al. 2011).

Yeasts

Almost ten kinds of different yeasts were selected and put to

use for screening test and comparison test. Based on

the descriptions and recommendations of previous trials,

three kinds of yeast, of which the Fali yeast was provided by

Harbin Mauri Yeast Co., Ltd., China, and the Wine yeast and

Thermo-tolerant yeast were provided by Angel Yeast Co.,

Ltd., Hubei, China, were used in this experiments.

Alcoholic Fermentation

Based on our previous experimental results and recom-

mendations, yeasts were weighted (for weight-to-capacity

ratio, or w/v, viz. 0.90, 1.20 g/L), dissolved in 150–250 mL

of water, and re-activated at 38–42 �C for 30 min. The fully

activated yeasts were poured in a tank filled with 20 L of

sugarcane juice and then mixed properly (Chen et al. 2011).

The tank was sealed and left for fermentation at normal

temperature in range of 20–25 �C.

Analytical Methods

During the period of alcoholic fermentation, the alcohol con-

tent (%), total sugars (%), total acids (%), reducing sugar (%)

and other parameters of fermenting cane juice were measured

using the methods as described in Analytical methods of wine

and fruit wine of GB/T 15038-2006, State Standard of the

People’s Republic of China (Anonymous 2007).

Sensory evaluation of fermented cane juice for colour and

luster, were evaluated by methods of GB/T 21172-2007/

ISO 11037-1999 (Anonymous 2008), sent and fragrance,

evaluated by methods of GB 12313-1990/ISO 6564-1985

(Anonymous 1990), and taste, evaluated by methods of GB/

T 12312-2012/ISO 3972-1991 (Anonymous 2012), State

Standard of the People’s Republic of China.

Results and Discussion

Correlation of Alcohol Content and Total Sugars

in Fermented Cane Juice

During the alcoholic fermentation of sugarcane juice, total

sugars involve sucrose and its monomers, fructose and

glucose, existed in sugarcane juice, are important carbon

sources for production of ethanol or low alcohol drinks

(Liang et al. 2008). The fermentation process of sugarcane

juice involves decomposition of carbohydrate source to

produce alcohol and carbon dioxide using activated yeasts

(Chen et al. 2011), and the quantity of alcohol content

showed increasing gradually with the consumption of total

sugars (Figs. 1, 2).

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It is clear from Fig. 1 that the actual fermentation period

ranged from 9 to 20 days in case of different kinds of yeast

during the process of alcoholic fermentation. Alcohol

started to produce after 2 days of fermentation beginning,

and gradually increased to the highest level from 3 to 9

days, depending on the yeast used; and finally became

almost constant after 20 days of fermentation. In contrast,

the total sugars content decreased rapidly until first 9 days

and consumed completely in 9–20 days of fermentation,

depending on the yeast used.

In the actual alcoholic fermentation with yeast, such as

wine yeast, the initial 2 days are called as pre-fermentation

stage, during which the yeast cells adapted to atmosphere

and breed (budding). Re-activating yeast by dissolving it in

water could enhance the fermenting vitality of yeast and

decrease this duration (Yadira et al. 2005). Generally,

alcohol was not produced during this period. The period

from 3rd to 9th days is called vigorous growing stage of

fermentation. During this period, total sugars decrease

rapidly and alcohol content increases constantly to its

maximum, and the bubbles of CO2 come out on the surface

and gives alcoholic fragrance (Sheehan 2009; Liang et al.

2008). The period after 10th day is the last stage of

fermentation, when sugar content is exhausted and very

little change occurs in alcohol concentration. At this stage,

the fermented cane juice looks clear and bright and brown

or yellow in color.

Three kinds of yeasts showed almost similar effects on

fermentation process. However, the fermentation carried

out using wine yeast could give up to 4.8 % alcohol con-

tent and the fermentation was completed within 8–18 days

with 0.7 % residual sugars. Different doses of yeast (0.90,

1.20 g/L) did not show any difference in fermentation

period or alcohol content except in case of Fali yeast where

use of 1.20 g/L yeast resulted in higher alcohol content and

shorter period of fermentation compared to 0.90 g/L dose

of yeast (Fig. 1).

Total Acids in Fermented Cane Juice

The acidity of fermented cane juice should be appropriate

in the process of alcoholic fermentation of cane juice,

because higher acidity of fermented juice could be

advantageous to inhibit propagation of harmful microor-

ganisms, but will be disadvantageous to the activity of

yeast at a certain extent. Conversely, lower acidity, such as

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30

Time (d)

Alc

ohol

con

tent

(%

)-Wine yeast 0.9 g/L 1.2 g/L

Fali yeast 0.9 g/L 1.2 g/L

Thermo-tolerant yeast 0.9 g/L 1.2 g/L

Fig. 1 Influence of different yeasts and doses on alcohol content of

fermented juice

Fig. 2 Influence of different yeasts and doses on total sugars of

fermented juice

Fig. 3 Influence of different yeasts and doses on total acids of

fermented juice

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.6

0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30

Time (d)

Red

ucin

g su

gar

(%)-

Wine yeast 0.9 g/L 1.2 g/mLFali yeast 0.9 g/mL 1.2 g/LThermo-tolerant yeast 0.9 g/L 1.2 g/L

Fig. 4 Influence of different yeasts and dose on reducing sugar of

fermented juice

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near neutral, will be apt to reproduce and grow harmful

microorganisms, which also could inhibit the activity of

yeast (Chen 2009; Liang et al. 2008).

The rate of increase in total acid content during pre-fer-

mentation stage was very high and it slowed down and

became constant during later stages of alcoholic fermenta-

tion. During initial 4 days, total acids content increased from

0.9 to 2.6 %, then increased little during next 5–20 days and

stabilized gradually after 20 days. The total acids produced

during the process ranged from 3.0 to 4.3 %. The highest acid

content (4.3 %) was produced by Fali yeast (0.90 g/L). The

ability of wine yeast to produce acid was found relatively

stable and showed little difference at different doses (3.3 and

3.0 % at 0.90 and 1.20 g/L doses) (Fig. 3).

Reducing Sugar in Fermented Cane Juice

Reducing sugar of sugarcane juice, as a single sugar of

carbohydrate nutrient, mainly includes glucose and fruc-

tose, which is another important parameter in the alcoholic

fermentation of cane juice as shown in Fig. 4 (Chen et al.

2011).

The reducing sugar content decreased gradually until

exhausted in prolonged process of alcoholic fermentation.

During initial 4 days (pre-fermentation stage), the reducing

sugar decreased sharply due to their consumption in alco-

holic fermentation. The rate of decrease in reducing sugar

became slow during 5–20 days, and then stabilized later. At

the end of alcoholic fermentation, the residual reducing

sugar ranged from 0.05 to 0.10 %. The highest residual

reducing sugar content (0.33 %) was found in juice fer-

mented by using Fali yeast (0.90 g/L).

Sensory Evaluation of Fermented Cane Juice

The alcoholic drinks produced by using different kinds of

yeast showed different sensory properties, such as colour and

luster, scent and fragrance. Taste was evaluated by methods

of GB/T China Standards or ISO Standards, which were

mentioned as description and characterization (Table 1).

The fermentation duration required by Fali yeast was

found relatively shorter, i.e., the fermentation speed was

faster compared to other yeasts. But the residual total

sugars content in juice fermented by using Fali yeast was

higher than thermo-tolerant yeast and wine yeast. How-

ever, the cane juice fermented by using wine yeast was

found better than other yeasts in regard to sensory evalu-

ation, such as colour, lustre, fragrance and taste. It appears

suitable with yellow-brown colour, clear and brighter, full

wine and cane aromas and flavor. Its soft, mild, mellow and

slightly sweet taste made it possible to be used as low

alcohol drinks in dines.

Conclusions

Sugar cane juice is the substrates of choice for fuel ethanol

or alcohol drinks because of its high sugar content and

availability (Wheals et al. 1999). Sucrose and its mono-

mers, fructose and glucose, existed in sugarcane juice and

molasses, are important carbon sources for production of

several products such as ethanol or low alcohol drinks

(Liang et al. 2008). In this study, the low alcohol drink

obtained by alcoholic fermentation of sugarcane juice

using suitable three kinds of yeast, which found to be up to

4.8 % of alcohol content, ranged from 3.0 to 4.3 % of total

acids and 0.7 % residual sugar content.

Our study suggests that sugarcane juice may be used

commercially as a low alcohol drink by using submerged

alcoholic fermentation by using suitable yeast species.

Acknowledgments This study was supported by the International

S&T Cooperation Program of China (Grant No. 2009DFA30820), the

Guangxi Natural Science Foundation (2010GXNSFB013015), Fun-

damental Research Funds of GXAAS (Gui Nong Ke 2011YM26 &

2013YM02). The author would like to thank Dr. Manoj Kumar

Srivastava, post-doctoral fellow, GXAAS (Nanning, China) for his

assistance in the revision of this paper.

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Table 1 Sensory evaluation of different fermented cane juice

Kinds Wine yeast Fali yeast Thermo-tolerant yeast

Colour &

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Yellow-brown, clear and brighter, no

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Brown, clear and brighter, no

sediment and suspended substance

Yellow-orange, clear and bright, no

sediment and suspended substance

Scent &

fragrance

Full wine aromas and cane flavor,

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More wine aromas and cane flavor,

no odor

Some wine aromas and cane flavor, no odor

Taste Soft, mild and mellow, slightly sweet,

slightly astringent, fresh and dry

Mild and mellow, slightly sweet,

slightly astringent, soft and dry

Mild and mellow, sweet, bit and astringent, soft

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