COMPARAÇÃO ENTRE AS LINHAGENS COMERCIAIS DE SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISAE CA-11 E SAF-INSTANT, NO RENDIMENTO DA FERMENTAÇÃO ALCOÓLICA DO CALDO DE CANA-DE-AÇÚCAR

Abstract

Cachaça is a typically Brazilian distilled beverage, with a history deeply intertwined with Brazil's colonial period. Its origins date back to the 16th century, when Portuguese colonizers brought sugarcane to the country and, with it, distillation techniques already used in other colonies. The manufacturing process basically consists of three stages: extraction and treatment of the sugarcane juice, fermentation of the juice by yeasts, and distillation of the wine resulting from the fermentation. Yeasts play a fundamental role in the production of cachaça, directly influencing both the quality of the beverage and the alcoholic yield of the fermentation. Yeasts with greater fermentation efficiency convert the sugars in the juice into alcohol more completely, increasing the alcoholic yield. This means more alcohol produced per quantity of sugar in the must. This study aimed to compare the yields of alcoholic fermentation of sugarcane-based musts using two commercial strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast: CA-11 and Saf-instant. To prepare the musts, we used the juice extracted from sugarcane cultivated at the Center for Technology and Regional Development of UFPB, in addition to juice donated by Engenho São Paulo, a traditional cachaça producer in the state of Paraíba. To conduct the experiments, we used the yeasts CA-11 and Safinstant, at concentrations of 10 grams (called 1X) and 30 grams (called 3X), in musts with different sugar concentrations. In the fermentation conducted at 6ºBrix, the Saf-instant yeast showed an alcoholic yield 3.4% lower than CA-11. For 9º Brix, the Saf-instant yeast, at a concentration of 10g, had the best alcoholic yield. And, although the alcoholic content of the CA-11 and Saf-instant yeasts, at a concentration of 30g, were higher than that of CA-11, at 10g, it would not be profitable to invest in the CA-11 yeast, since it is more expensive and three times more yeast would be used for a small increase in alcohol production. At Brix 12, the Saf-instant yeast produced more alcohol than the others, having the best alcoholic yield. In terms of cost, it would be more economically profitable to use the same Saf-instant yeast, but at a concentration of 10g. At Brix 15, the Safinstant yeast continued to have better alcoholic yields than the other CA-11s, where Saf-instant, at a concentration of 30g, produced 24.5% more alcohol than CA-11, at a concentration of 10g. Despite needing three times more Saf-instant than Saf-instant at 10g, it would still be worth investing in the former due to its 24.5% yield, while the latter yielded 17% more alcohol when both are compared to CA-11 at 10g. The CA-11 CTDR yeast demonstrated the lowest alcohol production compared to the other yeasts.