ABSTRACT

Zobo wine was produced by fermentation of the must using brewer’s yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae at 28 0C for a total of 18 days with addition of citric acid (0.5% w/v) and stored for 4 weeks. The sample and a red wine from grape (oster wine) were analyzed for the physicochemical, microbial and sensory qualities. The results obtained revealed that the physicochemical properties ranged from 0.993 to 0.986, 4.600 to 5.800, 4.660 to 10.035 %, 37.500 to 75.000 g/100 ml, 0.485 to 0.685 g/l, 4.400 to 12.450 % and 111.000 to 860.000 for specific gravity, pH, alcohol content, total titratable acidity, total sugar, dry matter and total dissolved solids respectively. There was significant difference (p<0.05) in the alcoholic content of the samples and could be due to the composition or production process. The microbial analysis indicated the total viable count (TVC) of 0.4 x 101 CFU/ml showing insignificant growth of Staphylococcus aureus which was observed for zobo wine with no growth detected for red wine from grapes. No fungal or coliform growth was observed in the samples. In terms of sensory attributes, the wine samples were evaluated using the 9 - point hedonic scale. Thus, the sensory score obtained for colour ranged from 6 to 8, 7 to 8 for clarity, 5 to 7 for taste, 6 to 7 for aroma, 6 to 8 for mouth-feel and 6 to 8 for general acceptability. Generally, consumers accepted the zobo wine more than the red wine from grapes. Therefore, the results revealed that alternative raw materials to grapes like zobo (Hibiscus sabdariffa) calyces could be used in the production of acceptable wine which can compete with imported wines in the market and beneficial to the consumers while providing a cheaper alternative to imported wines.