A influência das variedades de cana-de-açúcar na qualidade da cachaça

Abstract

Cachaça is a Brazilian distilled drink made from sugar cane, a crop with vast industrial potential. Despite the diversified production of more than 260 products, cachaça stands out as a genuinely Brazilian drink. Recently, there have been significant advances in the quality control of cachaça. However, the influence of sugarcane varieties on the production and quality of cachaça is not yet fully understood. This study aims to evaluate the influence of sugarcane varieties on the quality of cachaça. Eleven sugarcane cultivars were cultivated in the same area with similar edaphoclimatic and environmental characteristics at the Agricultural Sciences Center/Federal University of Paraíba. The sugarcane juice was extracted and characterized. Fermentations were carried out in 20 L containers inoculating 3x107 cells/mL. Distillations were carried out in 20 L copper stills. Physicochemical analyzes were carried out in triplicate. The results reveal that cultivars such as RB863129, RB962962, RB851541, RB1443 and RB002754 differ significantly from cultivars such as SP79-1011, RB1754, RB992506, VAT90 212 and RB933509. Among all the cultivars studied, RB933509 proved to be a late harvest cultivar. SP 79-1011 contains the highest number of wild yeast cells/mL. The Caiana variety demonstrated the highest TSS value in the broth. SP79-1011 stood out for its higher AR, NR and AT. For sugar cane wine, Caiana demonstrated to have the lowest concentration of TSS, AR, NR, AT, in addition to the highest production of TA. The varieties RB1754, SP 79-1011 demonstrated the highest VB in the wine. In distillates, cultivar RB951541 had the highest AV, AT. The RB002754 variety had the highest concentration of AF. RB1754 had the highest alcohol content. RB1443 had the highest copper concentration. For Dry Extract, SP79-1011 obtained the highest percentage and for ET, RB951541 obtained the highest concentration. Sugarcane cultivars influenced the cachaça production process, including productivity and quality. Therefore, our findings are useful for all industries that produce cachaça from different sugarcane varieties so that producers can choose a specific sugarcane genotype to ensure better product standards.