Wine Production from Banana (Musa sapientum) Using Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) Isolated from Grape (Vitis vinifera)

This research was carried out to produce wine from banana (Musa sapientum) pulp using yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) isolated from grape (Vitis vinifera).The fermentation of the banana wine lasted for 21 days. Physico-chemical parameters were determined during fermentation using standard procedures. Liquor of the fermenting must was removed for every 48 hours from the fermentor for analysis of pH, titratable acidity, specific gravity and reducing sugar using standard procedures. The results from the experiment showed that specific gravity of the wine was observed to reduce drastically as the fermentation progressed. The pH of the banana wine during fermentation increased from 4.16-4.22 at day to the last day while the titrable acidity (% w/v tartaric acid) of the banana wine produced increased from 1.05-1.77. The alcohol content of the wine increased with time. The specific gravity values were observed to range from 1.266 to 1.184 kg/m3 which gradually decreased throughout the period of fermentation. At the end of the fermentation, alcohol content was observed to be 9%. The flavour and taste were appreciable, overall point obtained was 4.8. This study showed that the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae isolated from the grape have a good fermentative report with acceptable wine which suggested that it could be use banana wine production, its products or other industrial application.