ESTUDO DA DESTILAÇÃO NA PRODUÇÃO DE CACHAÇA: INFLUÊNCIA DE DIFERENTES LEVEDURAS SOBRE ACIDEZ E TEOR ALCOÓLICO

Abstract

Cachaça is the most widely consumed distilled beverage in Brazil. Produced since the 16th century, it has an alcohol content of between 38% and 48% and, when made in a still, only the “heart” of the distillation is used, ensuring better aroma and flavor. The distillation of cachaça separates the volatile fractions of the wine heated in the still, concentrating the ethanol and aromatic compounds. The main objective of the work to be presented is to distill the fermented wines to obtain cachaça and to perform quality analyses of the distillate. The distillation and analyses of the distillates were carried out in the sugarcane production technology and unit operations laboratories of the Center for Technology and Regional Development (CTDR) of UFPB. Regarding the alcoholic content of the heart fraction, when comparing the Saccharomyces Cerevisiae CA 11 (1X) strain specially developed for the production of cachaça, we have an increase of 15.2%, when doubling the amount of yeast (2X CA-11), while in relation to FERMIPAN there were increases of 6.1% (1X FERMIPAN) and 9.1% (2X FERMIPAN), showing us that the increase in the amount of yeast from 10g (1X) to 20g (2X) has little importance in the alcoholic content. Regarding the acidity of the heart fraction, when comparing the yeast CA 11 (1X), we have a decrease of 7.4%, when doubling the amount of yeast (2X CA-11), while in relation to FERMIPAN there were increases of 65.5% (1X FERMIPAN) and 120% (2X FERMIPAN), showing us that the increase in the amount of yeast yeast from 10g (1X) to 20g (2X), obtaining acidity values within the Standards of identity and quality of sugarcane spirit and cachaça established by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (BRAZIL, 2022) for the total acidity content less than or equal to 150 mg/100mL, in the heart fraction, does not affect the success of the distillation performed. In the end, it was concluded that the distillates fermented with Fermipan yeast presented higher acidity compared to those produced with CA-11 yeast, even though it obtained higher alcohol content. This scenario tends to suggest that although Fermipan favored a higher concentration of ethanol, it may have caused the formation of volatile acids in greater proportion, and thus directly impacting the final acidity of the product. This finding highlights the importance of carefully selecting yeast strains, not only with a view to alcoholic yield, but also to maintaining physical and chemical quality standards compatible with current legislation and the sensory demands of the market.