Processing of banana-based wine product using pectinase and α-amylase

Banana must was treated with pectinase and alpha-amylase to hydrolyze pectin and starch prior to its use to produce a wine product. The synergistic activities of the enzymes enhanced hydrolysis of the complex carbohydrates. A decrease of 55% in the viscosity and a 2.7-fold increase in the amount of extracted juice were obtained after incubating with 0.05% (w/w) of pectinase at 40C for 2 h, followed by treating with 0.05% (w/w) of alpha-amylase at 50C for 3 h. A 15 and 39% increase in total soluble sugars and reducing sugars in extracted juice were achieved, respectively. Enzyme-treated banana must was diluted with four volumes of water and then fermented by yeast to produce banana wine. The pretreatment of banana with enzymes before wine fermentation resulted in a higher level of reducing sugars than that of the control (nonenzyme-treated banana wine) during fermentation. The clarity of the enzyme-treated banana wine was also fourfold higher than that of the control at 25 days of fermentation. The concentrations of total soluble solids, total soluble sugars, and alcohol in the enzyme-treated banana wine and the control have no significant differences.