Burkutu is a popular alcoholic beverage of vinegar like flavour, produced mostly from fermented guinea corn and  consumed mainly in the northern region of Nigeria, in the republic of Benin and Ghana. This study aimed at producing wine from bioconversion of ripe plantain fruit juice using Saccharomyces cerevisiae isolated from burkutu. The yeast was isolated from burkutu on WL nutrient agar (WLNA) using pour plate technique and was identified using microscopic and standard biochemical techniques. Physicochemical parameters were determined during 5 days fermentation using standard procedures. The proximate composition of the blend before fermentation and the produced wine was evaluated. The microbiological and sensory evaluation of the produced wine was investigated. The yeast strain was identified as Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The fermentation recorded total viable yeast count from 3.9x10⁶ to 2.00 x 10⁶ CFU/mL. The physicochemical parameters revealed that during the fermentation, the pH values ranged from 4.9 to 3.3, percentage titratable acidity (TTA) ranged from 0.18 to 0.45. The temperature of the fermentation ranged from 27 to 34°C and the specific gravity values decreased steadily from 0.97 to 0.14. Proximate composition of the ripe plantain revealed low protein content between 3.90 and 5.11, but low moisture content (57.11%). The produced wine contained reasonable amount of total carbohydrate (16.39%) but less than that observed with the ripe plantain and there were variations on other proximate compositions observed in the produced wine. The produced wine was not contaminated with bacteria and fungi. Sensory evaluation of the wine revealed acceptable aroma/flavor and taste. This study indicates that Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain from burkutu have good fermentative performance which suggested that it could be used for fruit wine production and other industrial applications.

 

Keywords: Burkutu, Bioconversion, Plantain, Fermentation, Wine