PRODUCTION AND PHYSICOCHEMICAL EVALUATION OF VINEGAR PRODUCED FROM PINEAPPLE AND PAWPAW FRUITS WITH THEIR PEELS

Vinegar is the product made from the conversion of ethyl alcohol to acetic acid by a genus of bacteria, Acetobacter. The major aim of the work is to produce vinegar with locally grown pineapple and pawpaw fruits with their peels. Production was carried out using the homemade scale process fermentation and analysis was carried out at various days of fermentation which includes 6th, 10th and 28th days of fermentation. The analysis carried out includes pH, titrable acidity, alcohol content, specific gravity and temperature. The final product was sensory evaluated. The result showed an increase in the physicochemical parameters analysed as the fermentation period increases with the 28thday of the vinegar production giving a pH range of from 3.9-7.8 for the four samples, temperature ranges between 27.7-30.7oC and titrable acidity ranging from 0.018-0.422%. Their alcohol content % ranges from 5.0-7.0% and their specific gravity ranging from 0.229-0.476.The parameters of the sensory analysis includes appearance, aroma, mouth feel, taste, thickness and overall acceptability and the result showed a score range of 5-7.5 for appearance, 5-8 for aroma, 5-7 for mouth feel, 5-8 for taste, 4,5-7 for thickness, 5-8 for overall acceptability on the nine-point Hedonic scale. The results of this work showed that there is a low titrable acidity formed hence giving room for more optimization methods to be carried out so as to improve the quality of the produced vinegar.